Dear Rusty: I am a 62 year old widower that is still working full time. While my late spouse was in hospice, I was able to get her to apply for Social Security disability and she received one payment before she passed away two years ago. I was told that I could collect a survivor benefit, so I called my local Social Security office, but they told me that I could not collect any type of benefits from my wife and that all the money she paid into SS for all of those years was basically gone for good. Would you please advise what I can do and if this is true? I was also told that Social Security’s agents will do everything they can to avoid paying out benefits. Signed: Frustrated WidowerDear Frustrated Widower: I suspect that the reason Social Security said you were not eligible for benefits as a widower is because you are working full time. At age 62, you are subject to Social Security’s “earnings test” which limits how much you can earn while collecting early Social Security benefits. The 2023 earnings limit is $21,240 and, if that is exceeded, SS will take away $1 in benefits for every $2 you are over the limit. If your earnings are high enough, that could make you temporarily ineligible to collect benefits until 1) your earnings are less, or 2) you reach your full retirement age (FRA) when the earnings test no longer applies.Assuming you have not yet claimed your personal SS retirement benefit, you are still eligible to collect a survivor benefit from your wife when your earnings are less or after you reach your full retirement age. One strategy you may wish to consider, if you plan to keep working full time, is to wait and claim only your surviving spouse benefit at your FRA (67), thus allowing your personal SS retirement benefit to continue growing until you are 70 when your personal SS retirement benefit will be about 75% more than it would be now. Although your survivor benefit reaches maximum at your FRA, your personal benefit doesn’t reach maximum until age 70, so it’s possible to collect your smaller survivor benefit from your wife first and claim your higher personal benefit later.You were apparently given some confusing information when you contacted Social Security. If you haven’t already claimed your own SS retirement benefit, you ...
