Laurence Kotlikoff is a professor of economics at Boston University who has been answering questions and writing columns about Social Security each week for the past two years on PBS NEWSHOUR’s website. OpenRetirement has asked Professor Kotlikoff to post a Q&A each day from those columns. He has also developed software, called Maximize My Social Security, to help retirees secure the highest lifetime Social Security benefits. You can find the software here: www.maximizemysocialsecurity.com
Question: My late husband and I were married for 36 years when he passed away at the age of 61. He had already retired from his job. I continue to work full time. At this point, when I retire, I believe my Social Security benefit amount will be greater than his would have been. He had planned to collect at age 65. So if I collect the widow’s benefit based on his Social Security amount, accumulated to age 61, how will it affect my Social Security amount if I retire at age 66 (I was born in 1952)?
Answer: My sincere sympathies for your loss. If you aren’t earning enough to lose all your benefits under the earnings test, you may be giving up benefits for no good reason right now. Most likely, you will want to take you widows benefit as soon as possible, and certainly starting at full retirement age, and postpone taking your own benefit until age 70. But another option, if you aren’t earning so much as to lose all benefits to the earnings test, is to take your own retirement benefit starting right now and start your widows benefit at 66. Only extremely careful software will get this straight for you.
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When it comes to personal finance, economics and our software care about one thing—your living standard. All questions in personal finance boil down to your living standard. Your decision about when and how to take Social Security can affect your living standard throughout your retirement.
I am a professor of economics and I’ve spent a good part of my academic career studying personal financial behavior. Here’s why my colleagues and I developed Maximize My Social Security. Deciding, on your own, which Social Security benefits to take and in which month to take them is incredibly difficult. Most households face millions of options. You can easily lose tens of thousands of dollars making the wrong choices.
My company’s software, Maximize My Social Security, can help you avoid costly mistakes and instead discover your maximized lifetime household benefits.
