I'm a surviving divorced spouse my ex husband was 62 when he passed and on disability he was drawing 1400 a month ssdi. If I retire at 60 what percentage can I recieve monthly. Any other pros and cons you could tell me would be helpful.
Hi. Eligible widows and surviving divorced spouses who start drawing benefits at age 60 are paid 71.5% of their deceased former spouse's primary insurance amount (PIA). A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA), or their full Social Security disability (SSDI) benefit rate. PIAs are adjusted for Social Security cost of living increases, however, so what you could potentially receive at age 60 is actually 71.5% of the what your spouse's monthly SSDI rate would then be if he was still alive.
Whether or not you should file for survivor at age 60, though, depends on the relative amounts that you could potentially receive as a survivor vs. the amount that you could potentially be paid based on your own earnings history. Furthermore, if you file for benefits prior to your full retirement age (FRA) and you're still working, some or all of your benefits could be withheld if you earn too much (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html).
Your best strategy for claiming benefits would likely come down to one of two options:
1) File for reduced survivor benefits at age 60 or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then switch to your own record at age 70; or,
2) File for reduced retirement benefits on your own record at age 62 or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, and then file for unreduced survivor benefits at full retirement age (FRA).
Normally, you would want to start out drawing the lower benefit first and then switch to the higher benefit when it reaches it's highest potential rate. Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) could help sort all of this out for you so that you can determine the best strategy for maximizing your benefits.
Best, Jerry
