And DOCUMENT EVERYTHING! Every phone call, every person you talk to, every form you submit - write it all down with dates and names. I wish I had done this from the beginning with our situation. When you finally get someone helpful, having a detailed timeline of all your attempts makes a huge difference in getting back benefits if they've been incorrectly suspended.

One more important tip: Social Security requires that student benefits recipients be full-time students. For homeschoolers, this means at least 20 hours per week of instruction time. Make sure your documentation clearly shows she meets or exceeds this requirement. Include study time, research projects, field trips, and other educational activities in your hourly calculations.

I went through something similar last year when I was deciding between my own benefits and my late husband's. I found that applying at least 3 months before you want benefits to start gives SSA enough time to process everything. I applied in March for a June start date, and everything went smoothly. One thing to consider: when you switch to survivor benefits, you'll need to provide your marriage certificate and your spouse's death certificate if you haven't already done so for any prior SSA business. Having these documents ready ahead of time will make the process much smoother when you reach your FRA. In my case, I found applying online for my retirement benefits was straightforward, but I had to call for the survivor benefits part. Hope this helps!

Thank you all so much for this helpful information! I feel much better about my plan now. I think I'll apply online for my retirement benefits this week (aiming for a January start date) and then set a reminder in my calendar for 3 months before my FRA to start the survivor benefits application process. It's reassuring to know I don't need to mention my future plans during this initial application. And I'll make sure to have all my documents ready when it's time to apply for survivor benefits. If anyone has additional advice about the actual application process or things I should watch out for, I'd still love to hear it. Thanks again to everyone who responded!

My situation was almost identical to yours last year! I was living on $1,120/month with barely anything left over after bills. Got hit with a $3,800 overpayment. I went to my congressman's office and asked for help with my case. They have caseworkers who deal with federal agencies and can sometimes get things moving faster. Their office helped me file for both the waiver (which was denied) and then for the reduced repayment plan. I ended up with a $15/month repayment which I could manage. Don't give up - there ARE options for people in real financial hardship.

One more important thing - make sure to request the minimum payment arrangement within 30 days of receiving the overpayment notice. If you don't respond within that timeframe, they can start automatic withholding from your benefits (usually at 10% of your monthly benefit). You can still request the hardship rate after this happens, but it's better to prevent the higher withholding from starting in the first place.

Since others have already clarified the earnings limit question, I'll add one more thing that might help explain your friend's confusion. There are THREE different age-related concepts with Social Security that people often mix up: 1. Earnings Limit: Applies ONLY before FRA, completely goes away at FRA 2. Delayed Retirement Credits: These accumulate between FRA and age 70 (8% per year) 3. Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs): Start at age 73 for retirement accounts (not related to SS but another age 70-ish rule) I've found that people often blend these different concepts together, which creates confusion.

my brother kept working til 69 making big $$ and got full SS the whole time so your def right

Wait i thought the $250,000 exclusion was only on profits not the whole sale price??? If the house was bought for $150k and sold for $350k then only $100k is profit and thats under the limit. But if it was bought for $50k and sold for $350k then thats $300k profit and would go over the exemption and some would be taxable. I think?????

just wondering... is your son going to charge you rent for the mother in law suite? because if he does that could complicate things with how the money is handled.

my cousins wife had this EXACT situation and she didn't know about the spousal thing for like 2 years and missed out on so much money!!!!! make sure you call them call them call them don't just do it online!!!!

my sister applied online and her husband got the spousal increase automatically

WATCH OUT! I filed for SS at 62 then changed my mind after receiving 2 payments. Had to pay EVERYTHING back and the paperwork was a NIGHTMARE!! The SSA kept losing my forms and I had to resubmit TWICE!!! The whole process took almost 4 months to resolve. If you haven't received payments yet you should be OK but DOCUMENT EVERYTHING and get confirmation numbers for EVERY conversation!!! The SSA is a MESS right now with backlogs!!

After you submit the withdrawal form, make sure you get written confirmation that it was processed! When I did mine, I assumed everything was fine until I suddenly got a direct deposit three weeks later. Turned out they had a backlog and hadn't processed my withdrawal. Created a huge headache having to return the payment.

One more thing to be aware of: Medicare enrollment. If your husband is already on Medicare, no action is needed. If he's not on Medicare yet but will be 65+ when benefits start, the retirement application will automatically enroll him in Medicare Parts A & B. If he has employer health insurance and wants to delay Part B (to avoid paying the premium while still covered), there will be a section in the application where he can decline Part B. This is important because Part B comes with a monthly premium that's unnecessary if he has good employer coverage. If he declines Part B now while having employer coverage, he'll qualify for a Special Enrollment Period when he eventually retires, avoiding the late enrollment penalty.

make sure u have marriage info!!! they asked my friend for date/place she got married AND divorced from 40 years ago!!! she had to find old papers

ur making this way too complicated. just dont make more than the limit and ur fine! they dont care about month to month just the total at the end of the yr.

Thanks everyone for the helpful information! I'm going to: 1. Track my monthly earnings carefully to stay under both the annual limit of $23,400 and the monthly limit of $1,950 once I reduce my hours 2. Use that Claimyr service to reach SSA without the wait and specifically ask about the Monthly Earnings Test 3. Ask them to note in my file that my work is seasonal/front-loaded It's a relief to know they don't typically forecast or estimate based on early-year earnings. I appreciate all the advice!

I remember when the rules changed in 2015 - it was a HUGE deal for retirement planners! Many of our clients were counting on using these creative filing strategies. The "restricted application" (what you're describing) was a great way to maximize lifetime benefits. Unfortunately, Congress eliminated these options for anyone born after 1/1/1954. If your own benefit at age 70 would be significantly higher than your ex-spouse benefit, the best strategy is probably waiting as long as possible to file. Each year you delay from FRA to 70 adds 8% to your monthly benefit - guaranteed growth you can't find anywhere else!

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments! I'm definitely understanding things better now, even if I'm disappointed that I can't use the strategy I heard about. I'm going to schedule an appointment with SSA to get specific numbers for my situation so I can compare taking benefits at 62 vs waiting till 70. I've got some savings to live on, so waiting might be better in the long run, especially since I'm in good health and my parents both lived into their 90s.