I'm getting so many conflicting answers from SSA about this same issue! Last week one rep told me to apply for my son right away, this week another one says I need to wait. Does anyone know if there's a specific regulation or rule I can reference when I talk to them?

As someone who just went through this process 6 months ago, I can confirm you absolutely DO NOT need to wait for your retirement benefits to be approved first! I filed for my 10-year-old son's auxiliary benefits just 2 weeks after submitting my own retirement application, and it worked out perfectly. Here's what I learned: the SSA systems are designed to process these applications together once your retirement is approved. My son's benefits started the same month as mine, and we didn't lose any potential payments by filing early. Pro tip: when you go in person (which I highly recommend over online for child applications), bring extra copies of everything. I brought my son's birth certificate, custody papers, school enrollment records, and proof he lives with me full-time. The whole process took about 45 minutes, and the representative was able to link his application directly to mine in their system. Don't let one confused rep delay you - the sooner you file, the better protected you'll be for any retroactive payments!

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is that you should also verify your earnings record on your my Social Security account before applying. Since your benefit amount is calculated based on your highest 35 years of earnings, any errors in your record could affect that $178 monthly difference you're concerned about. I discovered a missing year of earnings when I checked mine before applying - it took about 3 months to get it corrected with documentation from my old employer. Better to catch these issues now rather than after you've already started receiving benefits. The correction process is much smoother before your benefits begin. You can access your earnings record and get benefit estimates at ssa.gov/myaccount. This will also show you exactly what your FRA benefit amount should be, which gives you another way to double-check that everything is calculated correctly when you receive your first payment.

This is such a valuable thread! I'm in a similar situation and wanted to share one additional tip that helped me. When I was preparing to apply, I actually printed out the SSA Publication 05-10035 "Retirement Benefits" booklet from their website. It has a detailed section about choosing your benefit start date that I referenced multiple times during my application. The booklet clearly states that you can apply up to 4 months before you want benefits to start, and it emphasizes that your application date and benefit start date are completely separate decisions. Having this official documentation helped me feel confident when I was filling out the application online. I'd also recommend bookmarking the SSA's "When to Start Receiving Retirement Benefits" page (ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/1943-delay.html) - it has calculators and examples that show exactly how much your benefit changes based on when you start. For someone like you who's calculated that $178 monthly difference, having the official SSA tools to double-check your math can be really reassuring. Your plan to apply in October for January 2025 benefits is exactly right. Just remember that consistency is key - every time the application asks about timing, stick with January 2025 as your answer!

One more thing to consider - any benefits withheld due to the earnings test aren't lost forever. When you reach Full Retirement Age, SSA will recalculate your benefit amount to credit you for months when benefits were withheld. This results in a permanent increase to your monthly benefit amount after FRA. So while it feels like you're losing money now, you do get some of it back later in the form of higher monthly payments.

I'm going through a similar situation with my survivor benefits right now. I'm 62 and still working, earning about $48,000 annually. My benefits were suspended in January and I'm still waiting for that official letter everyone mentions. It's been over a month now. One thing I learned from calling SSA multiple times is that you can also request an estimate of your benefits at different income levels. They can run scenarios for you - like what would happen if you earned $30,000 vs $40,000 next year. This helped me plan my transition to part-time work. Also, make sure to keep detailed records of all your conversations with SSA representatives, including dates and names if possible. I started doing this after getting conflicting information from different agents. It's helped me stay organized and reference previous conversations when I call back. The whole process is definitely frustrating, but don't give up on getting the information you need to make informed decisions about your work and benefits!

UPDATE: I followed everyone's advice and used Claimyr to reach a Social Security rep yesterday. The rep confirmed we need to file the SSA-795 form requesting recalculation due to the WEP repeal. She said we should include: 1. A statement requesting recalculation due to WEP repeal 2. My husband's most recent OPERS benefit statement 3. A copy of his W-2s showing years of substantial earnings She estimated it would take 10-12 weeks for processing but said the backpay would include all months from January 2024. Based on our rough calculation, he should get around $8,550 in backpay plus an additional $475 monthly going forward. Thank you all for your help! I'll post another update once we get the adjustment.

As someone new to this community, I just want to say thank you all for sharing such detailed information! My mom is in a similar situation - she was a teacher for 30 years and has been getting reduced SS benefits due to WEP. We had no idea we needed to file paperwork to get the adjustment after the repeal. Reading through all your experiences has been incredibly helpful. We're going to try the Claimyr service to get through to Social Security and request the SSA-795 form. It's frustrating that SSA isn't being more proactive about notifying people, but at least now we know what steps to take. Will definitely follow up once we hear back from them!

Perfect! I'll do that this weekend. Really appreciate everyone's help here - feeling much less anxious about the whole situation now.

I went through this exact situation about 6 months ago and can share my experience. My online estimate showed $1,847/month at age 62, and my actual first payment was $1,821 - so pretty darn close! The small difference was because I had one final paycheck that pushed my earnings slightly higher than what was in the system when I got the estimate. The key thing I learned is that the estimates are very accurate IF your work situation stays consistent with what they're projecting. Since you mentioned your construction work is slowing down and you might stop 8 months early, I'd definitely recommend getting that more detailed calculation Jasmine mentioned. In my case, stopping work a few months early didn't hurt much because I already had my 35 highest years locked in, but everyone's situation is different. The peace of mind from knowing the real numbers was worth the extra effort.