I just turned 60 and my husband passed away and he would of been 71 this year. Can I draw widow benefits from social security now. If so what happens when I am at full age to retire. I currently work and can I still draw widow benefits

Thank you

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

It sounds like you'd potentially qualify for widow's benefits, but some or all of your benefits could be subject to withholding depending on how much you earn. Basically, you'd lose $1 of benefits for each $2 that you earn in excess of $17,040 this year, and $1 for each $2 that you earn in excess of $17,640 next year (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking.html).

Widow's benefits are reduced by 28.5% if you start drawing when you turn age 60, and that reduction is permanent assuming that you're paid all of your benefits between age 60 and your full retirement age (FRA). You could later switch to drawing on your own record, however, if your own Social Security retirement benefit rate is higher than your reduced widow's rate.

Your best filing strategy would likely be one of the following:
1) File for reduced widow's benefits now 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 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 FRA. However, if your husband drew reduced retirement benefits prior to his death, it would likely be better to file on his account earlier than FRA.

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 could sort all of this out for you and help you determine your optimal strategy.

Best, Jerry