Hello Larry,
My husband had to retire due to terminal cancer and he took his social security at 63 and has a pension. When he passes away will I receive 100% surviving widow social security even though I am 61 1/2? I work and earn about $18,000 a year.
Thank You,
Suzette
Hi Suzette. I'm sorry to hear about your husband's diagnosis. If your earnings are below $18,960, then they wouldn't adversely affect your ability to collect benefits. However, your potential widow's rate would depend on your age at the time you start drawing widow's benefits, and on whether your husband has applied just for Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits or if he instead received any reduced Social Security retirement benefits.
If your husband filed only for SSDI benefits, then you could receive up to 100% of his primary insurance amount (PIA) if you wait until your full retirement age (FRA) to start drawing widow's benefits. A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA), or their unreduced SSDI benefit rate. However, if your husband has collected any reduced Social Security retirement benefits then the most that you could be paid as a widow is the higher of a) 82.5% of your husband's PIA, or b) his full reduced benefit rate.
Your best strategy for claiming benefits in the event of your husband's death would likely be one of the following:
1) File for reduced widow's benefits effective with the month of your husband's death and then switch to your own Social Security retirement benefits at age 70; or,
2) File for reduced retirement benefits on your own record at age 62 and then file for unreduced widow's benefits at full retirement age (FRA). However, if your husband collected reduced Social Security retirement benefits then you'd want to file for your widow's benefits as soon as your widow's benefit reaches it's maximum possible rate.
Normally, you would want to start out drawing the lower benefit first and then switch to the higher benefit when it reaches it's 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
