I will be 60 this October. I was married 17 years then divorced. My ex-husband died a few years ago. He was receiving social security disability. My daughter had severe disabilities unrelated to his disability and was receiving his benefit and she also died three years ago. Social Security office told me I can collect a widows benefit at 60 if not remarried and still work. I currently work three days a week. My questions are: 1) Would it be wise to collect this benefit at age 60 and work two days week? 2) What if I needed to make more money at some point? Could I just stop receiving benefits and then start again at a later time? I was told by Social Secuiry to hold off on collecting my benefit until age 70, and 3) How much money could I earn and still receive a widow's

Hi,

Your best filing strategy is likely one of the following:
1) File for reduced widow's benefits at age 60 or as soon as your earnings will permit payment of some benefits, 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 payment of some benefits, then file for unreduced widow's benefits at full retirement age.

You can earn up to $16,920 this year without losing any benefits. If you go over that, you would lose $1 in benefits for each $2 of excess earnings, unless you could be paid more based on the monthly earnings test (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/rule.html). The earnings test exempt amount changes from year to year, so if you start earning more in the future, more of your benefits may be withheld.

The maximization software available on this website is programmed to handle situations like yours which involve a choice of benefits as well as earnings test considerations. You may want to strongly consider using the software in order to determine which of the above filing strategies would be best in your case, as well as the optimal time to apply for each type of benefit.

Best, Jerry