Question: I was married for over 10 years to a high earner. I remarried and was married for over 10 years to another man. I divorced my second husband when I was 64, but ended up remarrying him at 65. Can I still collect on my first husband’s Social Security at my full retirement next year? Both are alive.
Answer: No and yes. You can’t be married and collect a divorced spousal benefit on your ex. But when your ex dies, you can collect a widow benefit on his work record since you remarried after age 60. You can’t, however, collect more than one benefit at a time. In your case, there are five different benefits you’ll need, over time, to juggle: your retirement benefit, you divorced spousal benefit, your spousal benefit, your widow benefit (when your current spouse dies), and your divorced widow benefit (when your ex dies).
__________
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.
