I am 68 years old. I am a widow and have been receiving survivors benefits since age 60. I plan to wait until age 72 to file for my own beneftis. Is there a way to calculate my beneftis on line? May I apply for these benefits on line?

Hi,

First off, you don't want to wait until age 72 to file on your own record, assuming that the rate payable on your own account is higher than your widow's benefit rate. You can only earn delayed retirement credits up to the month that you reach age 70, so there is no advantage to waiting past age 70 to file on your own record. And, unless Social Security expands their online application capabilities, you will not be able to apply for your retirement benefits online, since you are already receiving widow's benefits.

There are some online benefit estimating tools, but I don't know how accurate they are. For an accurate estimate of your benefit amount, as well as a full analysis of your filing options, you may wish to consider running the maximization software available on this website.

Best, Jerry