My husband passed away and I received his benefits because I am his widow. I will be able to retire in two years. I will receive a pension. Do I lose my widows benefits??

Hi,

Not necessarily, but if you will be receiving a government pension based on your work that is exempt from Social Security taxes, then your Social Security widow's benefits could be offset by 2/3rds of the amount of your non-covered government pension. This is due to the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision. For more information on GPO, refer to this publication: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf.

If you are insured for Social Security benefits on your own record, you may have additional filing options. In that event, you should strongly consider using the maximization software available on this website to determine your best course of action.

Best, Jerry