Hello, Larry and friends,

I have The Book, and it is amazing. Read it twice, first quickly for the "Oh, my gosh!" effect, then again to try to absorb more of the information.

My concern is that I could find very little re: a deceased, disabled (medically retired from the Army) husband. Most information seemed to apply to a disabled surviving spouse or child.

My husband died December 1998, age 51. I was 46, and we had an 11-year old son and a 20 year-old daughter. He got hurt (service-connected) in October '78, and the Army retired him in 1981, I think - not sure. He, our son and I received Social Security disability benefits until he died. Then our son got benefits until he graduated high school. After that, we got by as best we could. Thank goodness for Tri-Care and the Army's Survivor Benefit Plan, as my husband had so many medical issues that life insurance was not an option for us.

Perhaps that's enough background. Anyway, I took widow's benefits (that's what SSA called it) at age 62. It was such a relief to be able to pay all my bills. I'd had no real choice but to declare bankruptcy in June of 1999. I don't know if I could have made it another 8 years without that money. And with my health problems, I don't expect to live much beyond 75 or 80. I hope to, of course; there's still so much I want to accomplish, but I'm a very practical person.

Did I make a bad decision taking benefits at 62? Would/should the benefit change now that I'm 66? I'm still his widow, never remarried. Taking care of him and the children, I don't have anywhere near enough quarters to file on my earnings alone.

Thank you so much for reading all this. If you ever revise the book, please include more information about what happens when a disabled breadwinner dies early and leaves a family behind.

Many thanks, stay safe,
Mary

Hi Mary,

I can't say whether or not your choosing to start widow's benefits at age 62 was a mistake. Your monthly benefit rate would have been higher if you'd have waited until your full retirement age of 66 to start drawing, but then you wouldn't have received any benefits for the 4 years from age 62 to 66. And, if you needed to start your benefits early to make ends meet, you may not have had any other option.

In any case, though, what's done is done and your benefit rate won't change simply because you've now reached full retirement age (FRA). In theory you could withdraw your application and reapply for unreduced benefits starting at FRA, but you would then be required to repay all of the benefits you've received so far. Otherwise, the roughly 19% reduction for age that you took in order to start drawing at age 62 is permanent. You will, however, receive any future Social Security cost of living increases.

Best, Jerry