Hello. Married for 15 years. Divorced in 2004. Ex-husband died in 2009 at age 54 without ever claiming benefits. Ex would have reached FRA in February 2022 (66, 2 months). I am retired. I'm thinking of applying for survivors benefits in February/March 2022. I will be 61, 5 months in February 2022 and 61, 6 months in March 2022. My understanding: My survivor benefit will be based on ex-husband's full PIA plus any COLAs with a reduction (21.8% if collect in February 2022 and 21.4% in March 2022). In other words, I will receive 78.2% of ex's full PIA plus COLAs in February 2022 and 78.6% of ex's full PIA plus COLAs in March 2022. Is this correct? My FRA for survivor's benefits is 66, 8 months.

My FRA is 67. I believe my ex's full PIA and my own full PIA are similar so I plan on switching to my own benefit at 70 to earn delayed retirement credits. Does this make sense?

Also, is the fee for your software an annual charge or once and done?

Thanks for your help.

Hi. I calculate that you'd receive a bit below 78% of your ex-husband's primary insurance amount (PIA) if you start drawing at age 61 and 5 or 6 months. But regardless of the exact rate, if you're retired it sounds like you should do one of two things. Either a) file for reduced survivor benefits NOW and then switch to your own record at age 70, or b) file for reduced retirement benefits on your own record at age 62 and then file for unreduced survivor benefits at full retirement age (FRA). If you'll be switching to a higher benefit rate on your own account at age 70, you'd want to start drawing your survivor benefits ASAP. Even though your monthly benefit rate would be a bit lower if you start drawing now vs. February or March 2022, by the time you reach age 70 you'd have received more total benefits by starting to draw now instead of waiting.

Normally, you would want to start out drawing the lower benefit first and then switch to the higher benefit when it reaches it's highest potential rate. Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) could help sort all of this out for you so that you can determine the best strategy for maximizing your benefits. Our software subscriptions extend for a one-year period. You must renew your subscription if you wish to continue your subscription when it expires.

Best, Jerry