Surviving Spouse Benefits

[gguubb]

I have been told that age 60 I can collect a percentage of social security as my spouse of many years has passed away. My question is can I collect on my social security at that time or is it strictly based on my spouses. I would like to collect on my spouses at a later date and collect on mine at age 60 as mine will never be as much as his will. Thank you

[llworking]

I have been told that age 60 I can collect a percentage of social security as my spouse of many years has passed away. My question is can I collect on my social security at that time or is it strictly based on my spouses. I would like to collect on my spouses at a later date and collect on mine at age 60 as mine will never be as much as his will. Thank you

The earliest you could collect on your own benefits would be age 62. Unless you are disabled, or in very poor health and/or unable to support yourself it really doesn't make economic sense to collect early benefits.

[gguubb]

So I can only collect at age 60 based on my spouse's ss. I thought I could collect on the lower of the two (which would have been mine) and then switch to the higher one at age 66. If I collect on my spouses's at age 60, can I then collect on mine at age 70 when I can get 131% because I delayed beyond full retirement age?

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Thanks for your help.