MY ? is . I will be turning 60 in May and wondering if i can collect on widow's fund n still have a full time job . my husband died at 50 yrs old .

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

The answer to your question depends on how much you'd be earning. If you file for widow's benefits 2018 Social Security would need to withhold $1 of your benefits for each $2 that you earn in excess $17,040 this year, unless you could be paid more based on the monthly earnings test. The monthly earnings test would allow you to be paid for any month that you earn $1420 or less this year (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/rule.html).

It sounds like your best filing strategy would likely be one of the following:
1) File for reduced widow's benefits at age 60 or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then switch to your own record at age 70; or,
2) File for reduced retirement benefits on your own record at age 62 or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then file for unreduced widow's benefits at your full retirement age.

Normally, you would want to start out drawing the lower benefit first and then switch to the higher record when it reaches it's highest potential rate. Our maximization software can sort all of this out for you and help you determine your optimal strategy.

Best, Jerry