Hi Larry,
my husband took his social security early, at 62 years old. He is now 64. He is very ill. As his wife, I did not take spousal social security yet, nor have I applied for social security. The windfall provision may apply to me since I have worked under the German system in my life, as well as our United States system.. My question is.........if I took my social security now, meaning the spousal social security, would it impact on the possible widow social security? Would it impact in a negative way for me? Should I just wait and not apply for spousal social security? I am 64 years old.

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear about your husband's illness.

The answer to your question is no. Filing for reduced spousal benefits now would not adversely affect your potential future widow's benefit rate. However, since you were apparently born after January 1 1954 then whenever you file for spousal benefits you'll be deemed to also be filing for your own U.S. Social Security retirement benefits. You'll then be paid basically the higher of your own retirement benefit rate or your spousal rate. Filing for your own benefits now wouldn't adversely affect your future potential survivor rate either, though.

It sounds like you may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully compare all of your various options so that you can choose the best possible strategy for claiming your benefits. Our software is fully programmed to handle Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) considerations.

Best, Jerry