My Husband passed away in Sept of last year he was collecting Disability , i will be 60 in Dec of this year i am going to apply for survivor benefits in Sept , my question to you is will i collect his full amount or is it a reduced rate and am i entitled to the Cola increases every year .

Hi. I'm sorry for your loss. No, if you start drawing widow's benefits at age 60, your widow's benefit rate will be reduced for age. When taken at age 60, widow's benefits are paid at 71.5% of the deceased spouse's primary insurance amount (PIA). A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA).

All Social Security cost of living (COLA) increases that occur after the deceased worker's death are added to the survivor rates potentially payable on the worker's account, regardless of whether or not anyone is collecting survivor benefits. So, you don't need to start drawing your widow's benefits early in order for COLAs to be added to your widow's rate.

Your best filing strategy depends on several different factors, such as whether or not you're your insured for Social Security retirement benefits, and if so how your own benefit rate would compare to your widow's rate. You should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze all of your options so that you can determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry