I purchased your book a couple ofyears ago: Get What's Yours serveral years ago. My sister lost her husband and I wanted to know if she can still take his benefit now and still change over to her social security when she turns 66.5.
Thank you
Jack

Hi Jack. As long as your sister is at least age 60, or at least age 50 and disabled, then the answer is basically yes. She couldn't actually receive her husband's actual benefits, but she could potentially qualify for widow's benefits. However, if your sister is working, the Social Security earnings test could cause some or all of her benefits to be withheld until she reaches full retirement age (FRA).

Your sister's best strategy for claiming benefits depends on a number of different factors, including whether or not her own benefit rate would be higher than her widow's rate. Normally, people eligible for both widow's benefits and retirement benefits would want to start out drawing the lower benefit first and then switch to the higher benefit when it reaches its highest potential rate. Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) could help sort all of this out for your sister so that she can determine the best strategy for maximizing her benefits.

Best, Jerry