Q. My wife died about five years ago at age 59. I was 60 at the time. I am now turning 66 and just retired and want to sign up for my Social Security. I recently learned from a friend that I could have been getting widower's benefits all along. She had worked all her life and would have been due a fairly high Social Security benefit. Can I apply for those benefits now retroactively as part of signing up for my own Social Security?

A. Your friend wasn't quite right. You said you "just retired," so I am assuming you were working at the time your wife died. If that is the case, then you were not due any widower's benefits. There is an earnings limitation for any Social Security beneficiaries under age 66. (It's $15,720 now but was probably around $12,000 five years ago.) I'm guessing you were making more than $12,000 per year, meaning you would not have been eligible for any kind of Social Security, including benefits on your wife's record.

But those earnings penalty rules go out the window when you reach age 66. So what you should do is contact Social Security (call them at 800-772-1213) and tell them you want to file for widower's benefits. You will get 100 percent of your wife's Social Security rate. And you will get those benefits until age 70, when you can switch to 132 percent of your own.

========

If you have a Social Security question, Tom Margenau has the answer. Contact him at thomas.margenau@comcast.net. To find out more about Tom Margenau and to read past columns and see features from other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

(c) The Modesto Bee