I have been getting SS since he died for my daughter who is 17- I'm questioning how much I will get in 5 years after I turn 60 since I know I will still be working full time then.

It will all be based on how much your husband earned as long as you are collecting under his contributions. My sister is 67, working full-time, and collecting under her dead ex-husband's. She had been collecting under hers and working full-time; once he died it turned out her benefits were higher under his earnings. She is over 65 but there is a limit I think on how much she can earn before they start reducing her SS payments. When she hits a certain threshold amount, they will reduce her benefits one dollar for every 3 over that amount.

It IS complicated! Best to get it straight from the horse's mouth!

One footnote here about the kids: If you have a child that is deemed disabled, they can get disabled survivor benefits which will continue beyond high school and beyond the age of 19. My younger son is autistic and we were instructed by Social Security to file a claim for him, and he receives those benefits. When I die, they will recalculate his benefits based on my earnings and contributions which would be higher than Cliff's. They must be diagnosed as disabled before leaving school though. My son was a senior in high school when Cliff died, so he was eligible, but because he was over 18 I didn't receive any benefits for caring for him, and his benefits are just a portion of the household expenses. Still, every little bit helps!

It's so complicated it's like algebra to try and figure it out on your own. Talk to Social Security and ask a zillion questions. Every situation is a little different, so the right answer for one person is not necessarily the right answer for the next one.

My full retirement age was 65 years and 8 months... It goes according to the year of your birth. J.R. was 62 when United Airlines filed bankruptcy and took EVERYTHING he had worked for. Later he got a part time job and earned over the $14,000 Soc. Sec. limit and they taxed 85% of his income.. When I turned 62, I drew mine and part of his. When he died at age 67, half of my S.S. and a portion of his S.S. were reduced..

My daughter asked me about drawing my x-husband's S.S., since he died at the age of 62 and had never drawn on his. It ruffled my feathers a bit -- but it has given me a greater S.S. income than I would have gotten otherwise.. (He never had paid any child support in all the years we were divorced -- so I'd call this PAY BACK TIME... smile..)

Another note -- J.R. had never signed up for Medicare when he completely retired, thinking he wouldn't need it.. Well, he only had 8 months after retirement to sign up for it -- or be penalized a percentage for the rest of his life.. We had no idea at that time that he would die in the next year and a half.

I'd advise you to go to your local S.S. office and have them show you what you are eligible for, etc. In five years, it might be a completely different amount. I bristle every time THEY call this an "entitlement program" -- as we worked for many years, having it taken out of our pay checks without any choice..

Well, ad nauseum -- off my soapbox... Nancee

Just one more note on the subject that I thought of, you can appeal any finding from SS. If you feel you have exhausted all avenues and not gotten what you think should be yours, attorneys often know a lot more about the benefits and that might be something to think about if you do not get satisfaction on your own. Wishing you the best of luck.
fran