I am getting ready to retire at 63 and 9 months. I will need to take my SS benefits. My husband died in 2010. My benefits may be higher now. Can I take mine now and let his grow until I turn 70 and then take his?

Hi,

First, my deep regrets concerning your loss.

Your widows benefit will peak when you reach full retirement age or earlier if your husband took his retirement benefit before his full retirement age. You should take either your own retirement benefit first and then your widows benefit either at or before full retirement age or you should take your widows benefit immediately and take your own retirement benefit at 70 when it will max out. Which is best? Getting the answer requires running your situation through our Maximize My Social Security software. It will suggest precisely what strategy to take to maximize your lifetime benefits. Whatever you do, DO NOT request both benefits at the same time. Make sure your application says in the Remarks section that you are filing an application ONLY for benefit X and you are NOT filing an application for benefit Y. Social Security has wiped out tens to hundreds of thousands in lifetime benefits of widows by signing them up for both benefits when it was certainly not in their interest. I think this practice has been rare, but Social Security has refused to investigate, on a systematic basis, all cases that might have been inappropriately handled.

My best, Larry