I'm in a very similar situation - lost my husband last year at age 69 and I'm 61 still working full time making about $78k. The SSA rep told me the same thing about not being eligible due to earnings, which was really disappointing since I was hoping to get some help with expenses while I continue working. What I found helpful was requesting a written estimate of what my widow benefits would be at different income levels - it helped me understand exactly how the earnings test calculation works. You might also want to ask about whether reducing your hours temporarily could make you eligible for partial benefits, depending on how much your husband was receiving. The math might work out better than you think if his benefit was significantly higher than what you'll get on your own record.

I'm so sorry for your loss, Serene. This is unfortunately a very common situation for working widows. The SSA rep was correct - with your $85,000 income, you're well above the 2025 earnings limit of $22,320, so any widow's benefits would be completely offset by the earnings test reduction. However, I'd strongly recommend getting a written benefit estimate that shows the exact calculations. Sometimes if the deceased spouse's benefit was very high, there might be edge cases where a small amount could still be payable. Also, definitely consider whether reducing your hours might make financial sense - you'd need to run the numbers on lost wages vs. potential widow benefits. And remember, once you hit your FRA at 66 and 10 months, you can earn unlimited income without any reduction in benefits. The waiting is frustrating, but those benefits will be there when you're ready to claim them!

has your husband looked into Extra Help for his Medicare costs? with his kidney disease and low income he might qualify. they could cover his premiums and maybe even the copays for his meds. my mom got on that program last year and it saved her over $200/month!

I'm so sorry to hear about your husband's health struggles. As someone who works in benefits advocacy, I wanted to add a few things that might help your situation: 1. **Medicare Secondary Payer for ESRD**: Since your husband has kidney disease and you're still working with employer insurance, make sure Medicare is coordinating properly with your work coverage. This could reduce some out-of-pocket costs. 2. **State Kidney Programs**: Many states have kidney disease programs that provide additional financial assistance for dialysis patients. Contact your state's health department to see what's available. 3. **Medicaid Spend-Down**: Even though his income might be slightly above Medicaid limits, some states have "spend-down" programs where high medical expenses can qualify someone for Medicaid coverage of costs that Medicare doesn't cover. 4. **Contact your local Area Agency on Aging**: They often have benefits counselors who can do a complete review of all programs he might qualify for - sometimes there are programs people don't even know exist. The spousal benefits question is complex, but don't overlook these other potential sources of help while you're deciding on the Social Security strategy. Sometimes combining multiple smaller programs can provide significant relief.

One more important thing to understand: The earnings limit increases in the year you reach Full Retirement Age, and then disappears completely once you hit FRA. For example, if your FRA is 66 and 6 months, and you turn that age in 2025, the earnings limit in those months before your birthday is much higher (around $56,520 for 2024, and will be higher for 2025), and they only deduct $1 for every $3 over the limit (not $1 for every $2). Then once you reach your FRA month, there's no earnings limit at all - you can earn any amount without reduction. So depending on how close you are to FRA, you might want to factor this into your work planning.

I went through something very similar when I started collecting at 62 and then picked up some consulting work. The whole earnings test thing is really poorly explained by SSA - they make it sound like you're being "penalized" when really it's more like they're just collecting back an overpayment and will give you credit later. What helped me was thinking of it this way: when you collect early, SSA calculates your monthly benefit assuming you won't work much. If you do work and exceed the limit, they temporarily reduce your payments to account for that, but then when you reach full retirement age, they recalculate as if those "withheld" months never happened - so you get a permanently higher monthly benefit. It's actually not a bad deal in the long run, just really stressful when you're not expecting it! The key is just making sure you track your earnings carefully so you can budget for any reductions if you go over the limit again.

This has been such an educational thread! As someone new to understanding Social Security, I was initially confused like Evelyn about who benefits from the WEP/GPO elimination. Reading everyone's personal experiences really clarified things for me. It sounds like this law fixes a legitimate unfairness where people who worked split careers (some jobs with SS, some without) were being penalized even though they earned benefits from both systems. The gradual phase-out approach over 5 years seems reasonable too. Thanks to everyone who shared their stories - it really helps newcomers like me understand these complex policies!

As someone completely new to Social Security, this thread has been incredibly educational! I came in with similar confusion to @636c4a2971ed - I had no idea that many government jobs don't pay into Social Security at all, or that people could be penalized for working in both types of employment. The personal stories really helped me understand the real impact: @185b7cc3e99e losing $750/month despite 20 years of SS contributions, @0102a303a458's wife getting almost nothing from her SS payments because of her teaching pension, and @f59779e06f95's brother-in-law having his benefits slashed by 60%. These examples show this wasn't about giving free benefits to people who never paid in - it was about fixing unfair penalties on people who earned benefits from multiple systems. The technical explanations from @701b0c41f1c8 and @d4ba18f09350 about WEP vs GPO were really helpful too. I'm glad they're finally phasing out these provisions, even if it takes 5 years. Thanks everyone for such a clear discussion of this complex topic!

Definitely contact the SSA directly. I've found the SSA agents to be very knowledgeable and helpful once you actually get to speak with one. They'll need your husband's SSN and earnings history to give you an accurate estimate. Since it's been quite a while since his passing, having his SSN and death certificate information handy when you call will speed things up.

I'm in a similar situation - widow at 58 and trying to plan ahead. One thing I learned from my research is that you might also want to check if you're eligible for any divorced spouse benefits if you were married to anyone else for 10+ years before your husband. Sometimes people don't realize they have multiple options to consider. Also, when you do call SSA, ask them to run scenarios for you at different claiming ages (60, 62, your FRA, etc.) and get those numbers in writing if possible. I've heard stories of people getting different answers from different representatives, so having documentation helps. The representatives are usually very patient about explaining the calculations if you ask them to walk through it step by step. Good luck with getting through to them - the wait times can be brutal but it's worth it for accurate numbers for your planning!