Hi Larry! Couple questions:
1. I am 63 years old and would like to start withdrawing my ‘divorced widow benefits’ now, even if my personal benefits at this time are slightly higher than my divorced widow benefits. .
I would like my own benefits to grow till my age of 70 and then switch to my own benefits at 70 when they will be even higher (and higher than my widow FRA).

I am told that once I apply, Social security will pay me whichever benefit is higher even if I specifically apply for the lower divorced widow benefit at this time.. is that true? What would I need to do to be able to withdraw per my strategy outlined in the paragraph above?

2. The matrix benefit provided to me by social security has data under the ‘spouse MBA’ column and all zeroes under the ‘widow MBA’ column. I asked them to rectify to give me ‘widow MBA’ but the lady keeps insisting what she gave me is accurate.
I am also unable to get her to apply the widow windexing computation to assess if higher.

What is my recourse to get an accurate benefit matrix?

Thank you for your help and guidance!

Hi. No, that isn't true. You are allowed to restrict your application to survivor benefits only, excluding your own benefits from the scope of your application. You could then apply separately for your own benefits when you reach age 70.

I don't know how you can get correct information from Social Security, but our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) can do the types of computations required. To use the software effectively, though, you'll need to know the primary insurance amount (PIA) of your deceased ex-spouse. If you don't have that information on hand, you'd likely have to get it from Social Security.

The bottom line, though, is that if your own benefit rate is higher than your divorced widow's rate your best filing strategy would almost certainly be to apply for divorced widow's benefits as soon as your earnings would allow at least some benefits to be paid, and then switch to your own record at age 70. If you aren't working, you should probably file for survivor benefits ASAP, but if you are working then the best time to apply would depend on your benefit rate and your expected earnings. Our software could help you make sure that you're choosing the best possible filing strategy.

Best, Jerry