Dear Larry my husband passed away at age 44 I was 51. We had been married 7 year and 2 months. I have never remarried and my husband made much more money than me. I will turn 60 this coming September. My question is will I be able to draw widows reduced benefits off of my husbands social security.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

Yes, it sounds like you'd probably meet the requirements for Social Security widow's benefits as early as age 60. If a spouse dies while you're married to them, you only need to have been married for at least 9 months in order to potentially qualify for widow's benefits (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.04/handbook-0401.html)

However, there is a limit on how much you can earn and still draw Social Security benefits prior to your full retirement age (FRA). So, if you continue working, part or all of your benefits could be subject to withholding until you reach FRA (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking.html).

Assuming that you've worked long enough to qualify for Social Security benefits on your own record, your best filing strategy would likely be one of the following:
1) File for reduced widow's benefits at age 60 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 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 at your full retirement age (FRA).

Normally, you would want to start out drawing the lower benefit first and then switch to the higher record when it reaches it's highest potential rate. Our maximization software could sort all of this out for you and help you determine your optimal strategy.

Best, Jerry