I am still working and turned 62 in June 2018. I was told by a financial advisor that I should take my deceased husband's social security right away even though i would only receive a small amount and that it would increase the amount I would get at full retirement age.
I did a phone interview with social security recently and was told that it would be a huge mistake to do that and that it would freeze my allowance at the current amount when I plan to retire at age 66.
I'm confused as to why there even are survivor benefits if I can't take advantage of it at all. Or is there a benefit later?

Hi,

First of all, filing for survivor benefits now would neither increase nor decrease the retirement benefit rate that you could draw on your own record later. Your best strategy for claiming benefits depends on how much you are earning, the relative amounts of your retirement and survivor benefits, and whether or not your spouse drew reduced retirement benefits prior to his death.

Your best strategy is almost certainly one of the following:
1) File for reduced widow's 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 now or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then file for unreduced widow's benefits at your full retirement age (FRA). However, if your spouse received reduced retirement benefits prior to his death then it may be more advantageous to file for survivor benefits before you reach full retirement age.

Normally, you would want to start out drawing the lower benefit first and then switch to the higher record when it reaches it's highest potential rate. Our maximization software could sort all of this out for you and help you determine your optimal strategy.

Best, Jerry