Will I Receive the Social Security 2023 COLA if I am a widow and my windexing year is 2021? My dated of birth is March 1961, but my husband passed in 2019.

Hi. I'm sorry for your loss. The short answer is yes. But, a Windex computation could only be used if your husband died prior to age 62. In any case, though, widow's benefits include all Social Security cost of living (COLA) increases that occur after the deceased worker's death, regardless of whether or not the widow is collecting benefits when the COLA occurs. Windex computations can sometimes be used as an alternate computation if it yields a higher widow's rate than the normal computation method.

If you're insured for benefits on your own record, though, the 2023 COLA will not be added to your own Social Security retirement benefit rate. Your best strategy for claiming benefits depends on numerous different variables, so you should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully compare and analyze all of your options so that you can determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits. By the way, our software is programmed to handle both Windex and non-Windex widow's benefit computations.

Best, Jerry