Hi Larry. I will be 70 years old in March of 2021. I started drawing my deceased husband's social security in Jan of 2017 at my full benefit age of 66. At the time there was about $50 difference between his and mine. I opted to collect his and wait until I turn 70 in order to switch to my social security in order to collect more at that time. How soon do I need to contact the Social Security Administration to switch to my social security and are there any suggestions or advice you can give me to make this process go smoothly? Thank you.

Hi,

You'll need to file an application with Social Security in order to switch to drawing on your own record, and you can file the application as early as 4 months prior to the month that you want to make the switch. Assuming that's at age 70, you could apply as early as November 2020 in order to claim your benefits effective with March 2021. You don't actually need to file that soon, though, and you could actually file as late as September 2021 and still be able to claim your benefits retroactive to March 2021.

You may be able to file your application online (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/apply.html), but if you're unable to or prefer not to you can instead call Social Security to initiate the application process.

Best, Jerry