I am working full time age 62, income $75,000.00. My husband passed 3 years age at age 63 and was working full time taking no SS benefits. I plan on working until age 70 to receive the highest amount of benefits. What exactly do I need to do before my 66th birthday. I was told that I can collect said ( not sure what amount- his 62 yrs.old figure?) amount of his benefits from age 66 to 70 then at age 70 switch to my calculated benefit for age 70. My amount is slightly higher than his was the last time I was able to look at it.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

Unless you stop or reduce your work and earnings, you probably wouldn't be able to receive any benefits prior to the year in which you reach your full retirement age (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking2.html).

Assuming that you continue working at your current earnings level, it sounds like your best option may be to file for widow's benefits in January of the year in which you will reach your full retirement age (FRA), and then switch to your own record at age 70. That's just an educated guess, though, based on the limited information in your question. Making the right choice in this matter is too important to rely on guesswork, so you should strongly consider using the maximization software available on this website. The software can determine the exact best month for you to file for each type of benefit based on your projected earnings levels and benefit rates.

Best, Jerry