My husband, age 56, just passed away in October. He had applied and was approved for disability ,ssdi, due to stage 4 cancer. He was to receive his first check in December for November. I am 61 years old and need to know what I am entitled to. I am still working , God willing til I'm 67 to be able to get retirement health benefits. I am a teacher's aide in the local school system and don't make much money. We were counting on his ssdi in order to be able to continue to stay in our home. I have not found social security to be very helpful in providing info. What are my options? Thank you so much for any help

Hi. I'm sorry for your loss. It sounds like you're at least eligible for a one-time death benefit of $255, which you'll need to apply for with Social Security. You're also old enough to apply for reduced monthly widow's benefits, but whether or not you could be paid benefits depends on your benefit rate and how much you earn (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html).

Your best strategy for claiming benefits is almost certainly one of the following:
1) File for reduced widow's benefits now or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then switch to your own record at age 70; or,
2) File for reduced retirement benefits on your own record at age 62 or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then file for unreduced widow's benefits when you reach full retirement age (FRA).

Normally, you would want to start out drawing the lower benefit first and then switch to the higher benefit when it reaches its highest potential rate. Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) could help sort all of this out for you so that you can determine the best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry