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Q: Here is something I cannot figure out. Why am I getting so much more in widow鈥檚 benefits than I am due in my own Social Security? I will admit that my husband had a well-paying job and I did not. But he died at age 42. I worked until I was 62, albeit at a middle-income job. My widow鈥檚 benefit is $2,675. My own retirement benefit is only $1,790. I paid into Social Security for a much longer time. So why isn鈥檛 my benefit higher than my husband鈥檚 benefit?

A: I can understand your confusion. You would think that because you paid into Social Security for at least 20 more years than your husband, and that he died more than two decades ago when earnings weren鈥檛 as high as they are today, that your own benefit rate would be higher. But your widow鈥檚 rate is more because of the way those benefits are figured.

Your retirement benefit is based on your average income using a 35-year base of earnings. And the more years that are used to compute a benefit, the lower that benefit is going to be.

For example, if retirement benefits were based on your average income over just the last three years, that would produce a much higher benefit than if 35 years are used.

Or to put that another way, the more years of earnings used from so long ago when you were in your 20s and 30s and probably not making as much as you are now, the lower your overall average income will be and the lower your Social Security retirement benefit will be.

But in your husband鈥檚 case, his Social Security record was essentially closed on the day he died. So instead of using 35 years, they only used about 20 years of earnings to figure his benefit. And like the earnings used in your retirement computation, all of those 20 years of earnings he had were indexed for inflation.

You said your husband had a well-paying job. And all of those high earnings he had translate into a high Social Security benefit. And now they translate into a widow鈥檚 benefit that is higher than your own Social Security check.

Q: I am 73 years old. My husband died late last year. After he died, my own $968 retirement benefit stopped and I started getting what he was receiving when he died. I get a widow鈥檚 check of $2,147 per month. So I鈥檇 like to know: Where did my money go?

A: You鈥檙e still getting it. Because you see a deposit of $2,147 per month in your bank account, you may think you are just getting straight widow鈥檚 benefits off of your husband鈥檚 record. But what is actually happening is that you are being paid from both your own and your husband鈥檚 Social Security account. Or to put that another way, you are getting $968 in your own retirement benefits. Then they are adding $1,179 in widow鈥檚 benefits from your husband鈥檚 record to take you up to his $2,147 rate.

Q: I am getting widow鈥檚 benefits. I only get $1,640 per month. I have a friend who is also a widow. She was getting $1,900 per month, but she just got bumped up to about $2,200. We are both 70 years old. Both of our husbands worked for the same company and made roughly the same amount of money. Why is she getting so much more?

A: This woman鈥檚 question intrigued me. Even though there are several reasons why she might be getting more money, I was curious and wanted to learn more. We probably exchanged about a half dozen emails before I finally figured out what is going on.

The woman who sent the email started her widow鈥檚 benefits at age 62. So she is getting about 82 percent of her husband鈥檚 basic Social Security benefit. Her friend was age 65 when she became a widow. So she is getting about 92 percent of her husband鈥檚 Social Security rate.

And the 鈥渂ump up鈥� to $2,200 is also easily explainable. Turns out her friend worked much of her life and has her own Social Security benefit. And when she was 65 and talked to the Social Security people, she chose the 鈥渨idow鈥檚 option.鈥� She took a reduced widow鈥檚 benefit (the 92 percent rate mentioned above) and saved her own retirement benefit until age 70. At that point, she was able to switch to 132 percent of her own retirement benefit. That鈥檚 her full age 66 rate, plus a 32 percent bonus for delaying her own benefits until age 70.

Q: I am 68 years old. I have my own Social Security number, of course. But my Medicare card has my husband鈥檚 number on it with a 鈥淒鈥� behind it. Why can鈥檛 I have my own Social Security number on my Medicare card?

A: I鈥檓 going to be discussing this in more detail in next week鈥檚 column. But for now I can tell you that you must be getting widow鈥檚 benefits on your husband鈥檚 Social Security record. And your Medicare number reflects your Social Security claim number. Because you are claiming benefits on your husband鈥檚 account, his number shows up on your Medicare card. And 鈥淒鈥� is the symbol the Social Security Administration uses to denote widow鈥檚 benefits.