Im receivibg my soc sec for what I worked but never received a penny from my husband sec after he died. They told me that if my earnings were higher I would not qualify for his. How come?

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

The simple fact is that if you apply for more than one type of Social Security benefit (e.g. retirement and spousal, retirement and survivor), you can only be paid what amounts to the higher of the 2 benefit rates. So, if you're already drawing your own Social Security retirement benefits and your spouse dies, you can only receive survivor benefits from your deceased spouse's record if that amount is higher than your own rate. However, the surviving member of a couple can usually at least be paid a one-time death benefit of $255, so if you haven't already received that you may want to contact Social Security to see if you're eligible.

If you haven't yet filed for your own Social Security retirement benefits when your spouse dies, then it's usually best to file for one type of benefit (i.e. retirement or survivor) first and then switch to the other benefit rate when it reaches it's highest possible rate. People in that situation can use our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to determine their optimal strategy for maximizing their benefits.

Best, Jerry