My husband died seven years ago. I am a Federal GOV employee. Social Security told me that because I still work full time and am a GOV employee, I could not collect my deceased husband's Social Security. I feel that I am penalized because I am a GOV employee. My retirement will be under CSRS and I will never collect Social Security because I don't pay it. Is this correct/

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

Your civil service pension would not affect your potential widow's benefits until you actually start drawing the pension. However, the Social Security earnings test may limit or prevent you from receiving widow's benefits until you reach full retirement age (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking2.html). The earnings test rules apply to all workers, not just government employees.

When you do start drawing your civil service pension, Social Security would likely reduce your widow's benefits by 2/3rds of the amount of your pension due to the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf). This could well reduce the amount payable to zero. But, if you don't start drawing your civil service pension until after you reach full retirement age (FRA), or if your earnings are low enough to permit payment of benefits prior to FRA, you may be able to draw some widow's benefits at least until you start drawing your civil service pension.

The maximization software available on this website can handle situations involving both the earnings test and GPO, so it should be able to help you determine your best claiming strategy with regard to widow's benefits.

Best, Jerry