Hi Larry,
My wife passed away in November of last year and I received a letter from Social Security about widowers benefits. I just turned 60 in January and I still currently work full time (self-employed). I am curious if it is a good idea to start collecting those benefits now or wait until I am 62. Also, on the form SSA-10 it asks me to put in the appropriate monthly limit in which I will not earn more then x amount of dollars. How do I calculate this amount, is it based off the yearly earnings limit of $19,560? If so, I cannot earn more than $1,630 a month??
Hopefully this isn't too confusing, thank you very much for your help!
Hi. I'm sorry for your loss. Your best strategy for claiming benefits is almost certainly one of the following:
1) File for reduced widower benefits now 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, then file for unreduced widower 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 its highest potential rate.
The monthly earnings test limit is calculated based on 1/12th of the annual earnings test exempt amount. However, for self-employed individuals, the monthly test goes by the number of hours the person devotes to their trade or business. If most cases, if a person devotes more than 45 hours to their trade or business in a month then the monthly test would not permit them to be paid benefits for that month (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/rule.html). However, if your calendar year earnings are low enough to permit payment using the annual test, you could still potentially be paid benefits regardless of how many hours you work.
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
