can i collect my deceased spouses pension survivor benefits without reducing my social security PIA i earned on my own earnings record

Hi,

Yes, but I'm not clear on what exactly you're referring to by your deceased spouse's pension. You couldn't draw both Social Security widow's and retirement benefits at the same time, so when and if you apply for both of those benefits you would only be paid the higher of those 2 rates. However, you could for example draw reduced Social Security widow's benefits starting as early as age 60 and then switch to your own retirement benefits later. Drawing widow's benefits would have no adverse effect on your future Social Security retirement benefit rate.

On the other hand if you mean that you could qualify for a non-Social Security survivor pension based on your husband's work and earnings, that would have no impact on your Social Security benefits. You could draw that kind of a pension at the same time that you're drawing your Social Security benefits without causing any reduction to your PIA or benefit rate. Our software could sort out all of your filing options in order to help you to determine your optimal filing strategy.

Best, Jerry