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whats ur pension monthly amount? The GPO reduction is 2/3 of that amount gets taken from ur spousal benefit. So if ur pension is $3000/month, they'll reduce ur spousal benefit by $2000. If ur spousal benefit would be $1500, you'd only get about $0 after GPO. A lot of teachers find out they get nothing after GPO is applied.
My pension is about $4,250 monthly, so 2/3 of that would be around $2,833. I'm not even sure what my potential spousal benefit would be based on my husband's record, but I'm guessing it might be less than the offset amount, which means I'd get nothing? This whole system seems designed to penalize teachers and other public servants.
For your actual application process with GPO, here's what to have ready: 1. Your government pension award letter showing monthly amount 2. Dates of all government employment where you didn't pay into Social Security 3. Any W-2s or earnings records from jobs where you DID pay into Social Security 4. Your marriage certificate 5. Your husband's Social Security number With your FRA in August 2025, I'd apply in early May 2025. This gives them 3 months to process while avoiding any early filing reductions. GPO is complicated enough without adding early filing reductions to the mix!
Thank you for this detailed list! I'll start gathering these documents now so I have everything ready when it's time to apply. Do you know if they need the original marriage certificate or if a certified copy is acceptable?
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I'm just here to say DON'T TRUST the breakeven calculators out there!!! They're all based on a bunch of assumptions that probably don't apply to YOUR specific situation! They don't account for investment returns if you took early benefits and invested them, they don't account for inflation properly, and they COMPLETELY IGNORE the emotional value of reducing your stress NOW rather than later!!! If your job is making you miserable and you have other income sources, claiming early might be the right choice FOR YOU regardless of what the math says about some theoretical future that might never happen!
Fair point about the emotional value - that's hard to quantify. But the SSA calculators do account for cost of living adjustments. And if someone is disciplined enough to actually invest the early benefits rather than spending them, that's great, but most people don't do that in reality.
Thank you all for the helpful responses! I've decided to set up an appointment with SSA to get exact benefit estimates for both my own record and ex-spousal benefits at different ages. I'm also going to talk with my employer about possibly reducing to part-time hours - that might be the perfect compromise to reduce stress while still maximizing my SS benefits. I appreciate all the different perspectives here. This is exactly the kind of thoughtful discussion I was hoping for when I posted my question.
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One more thing I forgot to mention - when your husband reaches his FRA, his SSDI will automatically convert to regular retirement benefits (same amount). This won't affect your benefits at all, but it's good to know so you're not surprised when you see the change on his paperwork or direct deposits.
That's really helpful to know - I had no idea that would happen automatically. So many rules to keep track of!
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I think they might reduce her payment tho because normally you need 40 credits for full retirement. My neighbor said her cousin got less when she switched over because she didnt have enough work credits. Maybe its different for different people?
That information is incorrect. The 40 credit requirement is for qualifying for retirement benefits initially. When someone is already receiving SSDI and reaches FRA, the benefits convert automatically with no reduction in payment. Your neighbor's cousin may have experienced a change for other reasons (like transitioning from SSI to retirement, or having an overpayment being recovered), but it wasn't because of insufficient credits after being on SSDI.
oh that makes sense. maybe she was talking about something else then
Just wanted to update everyone and say THANK YOU for all the helpful responses! I showed my sister this thread and she's feeling much better. She's going to use that Claimyr service to confirm everything with SSA directly, but it's a huge relief to know her benefits should continue unchanged. You all have saved her so much worry and stress!
glad to hear! good luck to your sis
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Just want to point out that SSDI conversion to survivor benefits is also important here. When a person is receiving SSDI and passes away, the survivor benefit calculation is a bit different than standard survivor benefits. The benefit is based on the SSDI payment amount, but there can be adjustments for the deceased's early claiming. Make sure the SSA rep understands your wife was on SSDI when calculating your survivor amount.
That's a really good point that I hadn't considered. I know she had only been receiving SSDI for about 9 months before she passed. Does that affect the calculation compared to if she had been on SSDI for years?
The length of time she received SSDI doesn't matter for the calculation. What matters is that SSA will calculate your survivor benefit based on 100% of her Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), which is the amount she would have received at her full retirement age. Since she was receiving SSDI, that's essentially what she was already getting (SSDI pays at the FRA rate regardless of age). Then that amount would be reduced based on YOUR age when YOU claim survivor benefits.
IMPORTANT!!!! Did either of those SSA reps actually RUN THE NUMBERS for your specific situation???? Or were they just telling you general rules? Because without running your actual earnings record through their system, they might be GUESSING about which strategy is better for you!!!
You know what, they didn't! They were speaking in generalities. Should I specifically ask them to run calculations for both scenarios when I go back? Is that something they can do?
Yes, absolutely ask them to run the numbers for your specific case. A good Claims Specialist can show you the exact dollar amount you would receive under different claiming scenarios. Make sure they show you: 1. Survivor benefit amount if claimed now at 65 2. Your own retirement benefit if claimed now at 65 3. Your own retirement benefit at your FRA (66+8mo) Seeing these specific numbers will make the best strategy clear and give you documentation to refer to.
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I HATE how complicated they make evrything!!! y cant they just tell us straight what we get?? my friend told me widows get 100% of husbands SS but turns out thats only at full retirment age? such BS!!
I feel your frustration! It took me months of research to understand all this. You're right - widows only get 100% at FRA. Before that, it's reduced (as low as 71.5% at age 60). After dealing with grief, the last thing we need is confusing benefit rules. I found that writing everything down before calling SSA helped me keep track of what they told me.
Here's a simplified breakdown of your options as I understand your situation: 1. From 60-FRA: Reduced survivor benefits (71.5-99.9% of husband's benefit) BUT subject to earnings test 2. At FRA: Full survivor benefits (100% of husband's benefit) with NO earnings limit 3. At 70: Maximized personal retirement benefit (132% of your FRA amount) Best strategy is usually to claim whichever benefit is smaller first, then switch to the larger one later. For many widows, this means taking survivor benefits at FRA, then switching to their own at 70 if it will be higher. Remember that when comparing, you need to know: - Your FRA benefit amount - Your age-70 benefit amount (with delayed credits) - Your husband's PIA (primary insurance amount) An SSA claims specialist can provide these exact figures for you to make an informed decision.
This summary is incredibly helpful! I'm going to save this and use it as a guide when I talk to the claims specialist. Having these specific numbers will help me figure out which option gives me the best lifetime benefit. Based on our work histories, I suspect my own benefit at 70 will be higher than his survivor benefit, so your suggested strategy makes a lot of sense.
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hey im confused about something kinda similar. what exactly is wep/gpo? i keep seeing it mentioned but don't understand if it affects me or not
WEP stands for Windfall Elimination Provision and GPO is Government Pension Offset. They only apply to people who worked in jobs that didn't pay into Social Security (like certain state/local government positions, some federal jobs, or foreign employment) AND who also qualify for Social Security benefits from other covered work. WEP can reduce your own SS retirement benefits while GPO can reduce spousal or survivor benefits. If you've only worked in regular private-sector jobs where you paid SS taxes, these provisions don't apply to you.
Update: I took everyone's advice and carefully reviewed my earnings record year by year. Everything looks correct - all my factory jobs are showing the right earnings with SS taxes paid. I'm still planning to call SSA about removing that warning message, but I feel much better knowing my actual work history is correctly recorded. Thanks for all the helpful information!
Glad to hear your earnings record is accurate! One additional tip: when you do speak with SSA, ask them to add a note to your file confirming you have no non-covered employment. This can be helpful when you eventually apply for benefits, as it creates documentation that the WEP/GPO warning was investigated and determined to be incorrect. It may save you some headaches down the road.
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U need 2 go to the SSA office in person!!! They do this 2 everyone and hope u dont notice. My brother got shorted $900 and had to FIGHT to get his money. Bring ur award letter and DEMAND ur full payment!!!
WRONG! My brother HAD to go in person to fix it. They ADMITTED they made a mistake on his claim! Don't tell people not to check their payments!
I didn't say not to check payments - always verify your benefits are correct. But your brother's individual case doesn't mean the SSA is systematically underpaying everyone. In the OP's situation, the partial payment is likely due to proration, which is standard procedure.
Just to clarify for everyone - your Social Security payment cycle is based on: 1. When you became entitled to benefits (often tied to birth date) 2. Whether your application was fully processed before the payment cycle ran SSA pays benefits in the month AFTER they're due. So February benefits come in March. If you became entitled on February 18th, you'd only get a partial payment for your first month. Your April payment (for March benefits) should be the full amount. If it's not, then definitely contact SSA to investigate.
Thank you for explaining this so clearly! This makes perfect sense now. I'll watch for my next payment and make sure it's the full amount (minus Medicare). Really appreciate everyone's help - was having a mild panic attack when I saw that deposit amount.
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so what are you going to do with the money??? i'd be on vacation somewhere warm lol
I will be out of the country on vacation for the next 6 months!!!🤪🤪 Just kidding, wish I could! Actually, I'm going to pay off some debt and put the rest in savings. After the initial shock, I'm just grateful for the financial breathing room.
one thing nobody mentioned is that back in my day you couldn't get benefits from an ex... the rules keep changing so make sure your actually entitled to it
The rule about survivor benefits from ex-spouses has actually been consistent for decades. If you were married for at least 10 years before divorcing and haven't remarried before age 60, you can claim survivor benefits on your ex-spouse's record. This is different from spousal benefits during life, which have different requirements. The SSA wouldn't approve and pay benefits unless eligibility was verified.
Dmitry Kuznetsov
One other thing to be aware of: If the family maximum applies (which is likely with two children and potentially two mothers receiving benefits), the total amount will be divided proportionally among all eligible beneficiaries. This doesn't reduce the children's entitlement to 75% each, but rather, all beneficiaries would have their individual amounts reduced proportionally to stay within the family maximum. The SSA will calculate this automatically, but it's good for both households to understand why their benefit amounts might be less than the full 75% they would receive if they were the only beneficiary on the record.
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Ava Thompson
•Yeah this happened with my brother's kids. They each got less than what they would've gotten if there was just one kid. Seems kinda unfair to the kids but I guess that's just how it works...
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NeonNova
I'd recommend that your friend schedule an appointment with her local SSA office rather than trying to handle everything by phone. Survivor cases with multiple beneficiaries across different households can get complex, and it's easier to sort everything out face-to-face. She should bring all documentation (marriage certificate, birth certificates, death certificate, etc.) to the appointment. Also, the children's benefits will continue until they turn 18 (or 19 if still in high school), but the mother's benefits will end when the youngest child in her care turns 16, unless she's eligible for widow's benefits based on age at that point.
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Fatima Al-Hashimi
•Thank you so much for all this information. It's giving my friend a starting point during a really difficult time. I'll help her schedule an appointment with SSA.
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