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Has anyone actually TALKED to a real person at SSA about this lately?? Their website is so CONFUSING and every time I try to call I'm on hold FOREVER! Do they even have customer service anymore or did they fire everyone???
I've talked to them recently. Used Claimyr.com to get through quickly instead of waiting on hold forever. It costs a bit but saved me hours of frustration. They call you when it's your turn to talk to an agent. For questions like this about benefit calculations, it's worth getting the exact answer from SSA directly rather than guessing.
Thanks everyone for all the helpful responses! I think I understand it better now - the increase is calculated monthly rather than jumping at birthdays, and the exact percentage depends on whether I'm before or after my full retirement age. I'll check the SSA calculator to get a more precise number for my situation and maybe use Claimyr to actually talk to someone at SSA to confirm everything. Definitely feeling better informed now!
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Wat I never understsnd is why we even have an earnings limit?? We PAID into the system our whole lives and now they PENALIZE us for working?? Its OUR money!! Anyone know why this stupid rule exists??
The earnings limit exists because Social Security was designed as partial replacement of lost earnings due to retirement, disability or death. If you're still working and earning significant income, you haven't technically "lost" those earnings yet. That's why the limit goes away completely at full retirement age - at that point, the system considers you fully entitled regardless of work status. It's frustrating, but that's the historical policy reasoning behind it.
Thanks everyone for the information! One more question - does the earnings limit apply to gross wages or after-tax wages? And if I accidentally go over, will they just take my entire check until it's paid back or work out some kind of payment plan?
It's based on gross wages before any deductions for taxes, insurance, etc. If you go over the limit, they typically adjust future monthly payments rather than demanding a lump sum repayment. But how quickly they recoup depends on the amount owed. Small overpayments might reduce checks by a percentage, while larger ones could result in suspended benefits until the debt is cleared. Your best approach is to contact SSA as soon as you realize you might exceed the limit rather than waiting for them to catch it.
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After reading through this thread, I think I understand what might be happening in your case: 1. You likely received a medical determination of disability (which explains Medicare eligibility) but were denied SSDI payments due to insufficient recent covered employment. 2. If you received an official medical disability determination, you may have qualified for a disability freeze, which would protect your retirement benefit eligibility. 3. The confusion from the SSA representatives might be because they're looking at your record without considering the disability freeze provision, or they're confusing the technical denial of SSDI with a complete medical denial. 4. There's also the complication of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) that would reduce (but not eliminate) any Social Security benefits due to your public pension. I strongly recommend requesting a formal appointment with a Claims Specialist and specifically asking about your disability freeze status and how it affects your retirement eligibility. Also request a PEBES (Personal Earnings and Benefit Estimate Statement) that accounts for your disability freeze if applicable.
Thank you so much for this comprehensive explanation. This makes so much more sense now. I'll definitely request that formal appointment and ask specifically about the disability freeze. Should I bring any particular documentation to this appointment, like my Medicare approval letter or medical records from when I was initially determined to be disabled?
Following up on my earlier comment - after using Claimyr to reach an actual knowledgeable person at SSA, I discovered my benefits were calculated wrong for YEARS because regular reps didn't understand how the disability freeze worked with my public employment. Got a nice backpay check! Definitely don't give up and keep pushing for answers.
That's amazing you got backpay! I'm definitely going to pursue this further. I've been so discouraged by the conflicting information, but this thread has given me hope. I'll try to update once I get more definitive answers.
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To directly answer your original question: being positively impacted by the WEP reform depends on your specific earnings history. Those most helped by the reform are people with substantial earnings under Social Security in addition to their government pension. The best way to find out is to request a WEP calculation from SSA under both the old and new methods. Bring: 1. Your complete earnings history (from your my Social Security account) 2. Details about your PERS pension 3. Your expected retirement date The impact varies greatly from person to person. I've seen some clients get an extra $200-300/month under the new formula compared to the old one, while others see minimal change.
Thank you all so much for the information! I'm going to try to set up an appointment with SSA to get the detailed calculation. It sounds like I'll still have some reduction but hopefully the new formula will help somewhat. I appreciate everyone taking the time to explain this - it's so confusing!
Wait I'm confused now...is WEP the same as the Government Pension Offset (GPO)? Cuz my uncle lost his WHOLE spousal benefit from my aunt's record because of his pension...
No, they're different provisions: - WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) affects your OWN Social Security benefits if you have a pension from non-covered employment - GPO (Government Pension Offset) reduces or eliminates spousal or survivor benefits if you have a government pension from non-covered work GPO is generally more severe - it reduces spousal/survivor benefits by 2/3 of your government pension amount. The original question here is about WEP, which applies to the person's own retirement benefits. But both provisions can apply if you're eligible for multiple benefit types.
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WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T GIVE THEM YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER!!! My uncle got a call just like this and ended up with his identity stolen!!! These scammers are EVERYWHERE!!!
While it's always good to be cautious, it's important to clarify that during a legitimate appointment with SSA (once verified), they will need to confirm your identity which typically includes verifying your SSN. The key is making sure you're actually speaking with SSA first by calling their official number yourself. But yes, never give information to someone who calls you without verification.
UPDATE: I ended up keeping my original November 18th appointment, but I did verify the call was actually from SSA by calling their main number. Apparently they're trying to process survivor benefits faster and had a cancellation. Thanks everyone for the quick advice - it really helped me figure out what to do while at work without all my documents!
Smart move! Always better to be prepared with all your documents. And congrats on actually getting through on their phone line - that's a miracle in itself lol
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Yes, your local Social Security office can absolutely help with Medicare enrollment questions! In fact, they're often more knowledgeable about Medicare enrollment periods and special situations than the Medicare hotline representatives.Specifically for your situation about whether to enroll in Part B while covered under your wife's employer plan, the local office can explain how the Special Enrollment Period works when you have qualifying employer coverage. This is important because if you don't enroll in Part B when you're supposed to, you could face permanent premium penalties.The key factors will be whether your wife's employer has more than 20 employees and whether you're covered as a dependent on her plan. Make sure to ask about these specific details when you call.
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One more thing to consider - if your husband passes away before you, at that point you would be eligible for survivor benefits. As a widow, you could receive up to 100% of what your husband was receiving (including his delayed retirement credits). So while you might not get additional spousal benefits now, his decision to wait until 70 could still benefit you substantially in the future through higher survivor benefits.
This is exactly why my financial advisor told me and my wife to have the higher earner delay as long as possible - it's like buying life insurance through Social Security! The survivor benefit calculation is sooo much better than the stupid spousal benefit rules.
dont forget about taxes!!!! if you get more SS benefits you might have to pay more taxes on them if your over the limit. my brother got a big surprise at tax time last year
That's a good point. We're already paying some tax on our Social Security, but I'll keep that in mind if there is an increase. Thanks!
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No special documentation was needed. The SSA has all the earnings records in their system and can calculate what the non-WEP benefit would have been. But I did bring a copy of my husband's last Social Security statement that showed both amounts just in case. The whole process took about 45 minutes in the office, but I'd been trying to reach them by phone for weeks with no luck.
I had the same issue trying to call SSA about my husband's benefits. After being on hold for hours and getting disconnected multiple times, I found a service called Claimyr that got me through to an agent in under 10 minutes. Saved me so much frustration! You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU or their website claimyr.com. Worth it when you need to actually speak to someone at SSA about these complicated issues.
Thank you all for the incredibly helpful responses. This clarifies things tremendously. Just to make sure I have this straight: 1) WEP goes away for survivor benefits, so my wife would be eligible for my full non-WEP Social Security amount. 2) She would get either her own benefit OR my non-WEP benefit, whichever is higher. 3) This is in addition to the teacher's pension continuation I've arranged. This makes our financial future much more secure than I thought. Really appreciate everyone's insights!
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This whole WEP/GPO system is COMPLETELY UNFAIR!!! My husband and I both worked our entire lives, but because he was a public servant (police officer), he gets PENALIZED?? We should be storming Congress over this garbage. They've been promising to reform these ridiculous penalties for DECADES but nothing ever happens. My friend's husband was a teacher who lost thousands in benefits because of this. Meanwhile politicians get their full pensions AND Social Security with no penalties! Make it make sense!!!
preach!! my parents went thru this too with dads fire dept pension. they paid into both systems fair and square but got robbed when mom died. its like being punished for public service
Social Security specialist here. There's some confusion in some of these responses. Let me clarify: 1. WEP affects your own retirement benefits if you have a pension from non-covered work. 2. GPO affects spousal or survivor benefits if you have a pension from non-covered work. In your case, since your husband has a teacher's pension from work not covered by Social Security AND only has 20 years of substantial earnings under Social Security, he: - Already sees his own SS retirement benefit reduced by WEP - Would likely have any survivor benefits from your record reduced by GPO The GPO reduction is 2/3 of his gross monthly pension. So if his teacher's pension is $3,200, the GPO reduction would be about $2,133. If your SS benefit is $2,650, after the GPO reduction, he would receive about $517 in survivor benefits. Here's the official SSA fact sheet on GPO: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf
Thank you for breaking this down so clearly. This helps me understand what we're actually looking at. So he would still get SOMETHING from my record, just not the full amount. And the calculation is basically: My benefit ($2,650) - 2/3 of his pension ($2,133) = His survivor benefit ($517) That's not as bad as I feared, but still a huge reduction. Is there any way to plan for this or reduce the impact?
You've got the calculation exactly right. As for mitigating the impact, options are limited but here are a few considerations: 1. If your husband could accumulate 30 years of substantial earnings under Social Security (rather than 20), he would be fully exempt from WEP on his own benefit, but GPO would still apply to survivor benefits. 2. Life insurance might be worth considering in your situation to provide additional financial protection. 3. Some states have considered or implemented programs to help offset these reductions for public employees, though these are rare. 4. There are periodic congressional efforts to reform or eliminate WEP/GPO, but nothing has passed yet despite decades of attempts. 5. Get an official calculation from SSA so you know exactly what to expect for financial planning.
Dananyl Lear
my aunt got survivors at 60 and said the hardest part was just getting thru to ssa. the application itself wasnt bad once she finally got an appointment
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Carmella Popescu
•Thanks for sharing that experience! Did your aunt apply online or in person? My friend is leaning toward trying to do it online to avoid the phone/appointment hassle.
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Dananyl Lear
•she tried online but got stuck on some questions and had to call. ended up getting an in-person appointment cuz survivor benefits are complicated i guess
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Kai Santiago
One more important thing about survivor benefits that's easy to miss - they can include a one-time death benefit payment of $255. It's not much, but if it hasn't been claimed yet, your friend should ask about it when she applies for the monthly survivor benefit. There's a time limit for claiming it, but since you mentioned her husband passed 4 years ago, she may have already received this or it may be too late. Still worth asking about though.
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Carmella Popescu
•Thank you for mentioning that. I think she did receive that small payment right after he passed, but I'll make sure she brings it up just in case.
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