Hi, my husband passed in May 2015 at the age of 62. He was on SSDI receiving medicare since 2010 due to Kidney Failure. He was the high wage earner till that point. I was 57 when he passed. What do I need to do with Social Security to max my benefits for both myself and/or spousal benefits? Thanks, Joanna

Joanna, I'm sorry for your loss. It's not possible to say without more information. Your best strategy might be to file for your reduced retirement benefit early at 62 and then switch to your unreduced widow's benefit at your full retirement age (FRA). Or it might be better to file for your reduced widow's benefit at 60 and then switch to your unreduced retirement benefit at FRA or wait until it's maxed out at 70. Our software can determine how to maximize your lifetime benefits and also let you enter other potential what-if scenarios to see how they compare. Thanks, John