One important thing to keep in mind is how much your new earnings will actually impact your benefit. SSA calculates your primary insurance amount (PIA) based on your highest 35 years of indexed earnings. Each additional high-earning year will only replace your lowest earning year in that calculation. Let's say your 35th highest year (the lowest one counting toward your benefit) had indexed earnings of $40,000. If you replace that with a new year of $92,000, the difference is $52,000. But that $52,000 difference gets divided by 35 years and then run through the PIA formula which gives higher percentages to lower earnings and progressively smaller percentages to higher earnings. This is why people often see seemingly small monthly increases even with significant new earnings. It's still money you're entitled to, but the formula is designed this way to maintain the progressive nature of Social Security benefits.

they never sent me ANYTHING about increases and Ive been working part time for 3 years since I got my ss!!!!

Just to add some clarity: Social Security benefits work on a month-of-entitlement basis. To receive benefits for a given month, the beneficiary must be alive for the ENTIRE month. So if your father passed on April 15th: - March payment (received April 15th): This is his and belongs to the estate because he was alive all of March - April payment: He would NOT be entitled to this because he wasn't alive for the entire month of April The funeral director was likely confused or misinformed. That March payment is legitimately part of your father's estate and can be used for funeral expenses.

make sure u save some of that money just in case until everything is sorted out. my aunt spent all the money and then had to come up with it later when ssa wanted it back and it was a whole thing

my financial advisor told me that for most widows its usually best to take survivor benefits first and then switch to your own at 70 IF your own benefit would be higher with the delayed credits. but if your own benefit is already 3x higher right now, waiting might not make sense. every situation is different!

There's actually a relatively simple way to calculate your break-even point. If your FRA benefit is $3,400 and you delay 4 years to get 32% more (about $4,488), you're giving up $2,200/month for 48 months ($105,600 total) to get an extra $1,088/month for the rest of your life after 70. $105,600 ÷ $1,088 = 97 months (about 8 years) to break even So if you expect to live beyond age 78, delaying still makes mathematical sense even with the big difference between benefits. Of course, this doesn't account for investment potential of that money if you took it earlier, or tax considerations.

just to add my 2 cents i regret taking SS early!! dont do it!!! the reduction is FOREVER and its not worth it. im stuck with a tiny check for the rest of my life :

Based on everything you've shared - your continued part-time work, your good health, and your husband already receiving benefits - waiting until at least your Full Retirement Age would likely be more advantageous than claiming early. This would avoid both the permanent early claiming reduction and the earnings test reduction. You might even consider waiting until 70 for your maximum benefit, especially if family longevity suggests you'll live well into your 80s or beyond. I recommend using the calculators on SSA.gov to compare different scenarios based on your exact earnings record, or consulting with a financial advisor who specializes in Social Security claiming strategies.

Based on your situation, here's a clearer picture of what happens: 1. If you claim at 62, your own benefit is reduced to $530. 2. When your husband files at 67, your spousal benefit would be calculated as the difference between your reduced benefit and the reduced spousal amount. 3. The spousal benefit is reduced because YOU claimed early, not because of WHEN he files. 4. The reduction is permanent. For most people with small benefits, claiming early still makes mathematical sense despite the reduction. You'd need to live well into your 80s for delayed filing to pay off financially in your specific situation.

One last thing to consider - even though your husband is delaying until 67, you might want to discuss if it makes sense for him to file earlier to enable your spousal benefits, especially if your family longevity isn't exceptional. Sometimes the combined strategy works better when one spouse has a very small benefit compared to the other. You might run the numbers both ways to see which gives you more total household income over time.

I want to clarify something important that might not be obvious: If you apply for retirement at 62 and later get approved for SSDI, your monthly benefit amount will be adjusted to the higher SSDI rate without the early retirement reduction. However, this adjustment is not automatic - you need to request it specifically when your SSDI is approved. Also, if you've already started receiving retirement benefits, the application process for SSDI is slightly different. You'll need to file what's called a "disability application on an existing record" rather than a brand new SSDI claim. Your attorney should know this, but it's good for you to be aware as well.

i heard somewhere that if u apply 4 both and get approved for disability they take back all ur retirement money and then give u the disability backpay but it can take months with no income is that true???

I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THIS IS ALL SO COMPLICATED!!! I've been on SSDI for 3 years and I STILL don't understand half the rules. Every time I call SSA I get different answers. It's like they WANT us to fail!!! My private disability company kept demanding forms and threatening to cut me off if I didn't apply for SSDI fast enough. The whole system is DESIGNED to make sick people jump through impossible hoops!!!

Thank you everyone for all this helpful information! I just pulled out my policy and you're right - there's definitely an offset clause, and I would need to pay back from any backpay. I'm going to start gathering all my medical records and look into getting legal help before applying. The Medicare info is also really helpful - I had no idea about that benefit. This is all making me nervous but at least I understand the process better now.

My neighbor had this SAME PROBLEM last year!!! The SSA claimed they NEVER GOT her fax even though she had a confirmation page!!! She had to resubmit everything and it took FOUR MONTHS to resolve!!! The system is COMPLETELY BROKEN!!!

I faxed mine in October and just got the approval letter last week. Never showed up on my online account. Just be patient, they're working on it even if you can't see it.

Don't forget that if she buys a home and has money LEFT OVER after the purchase, that excess will count toward her $2000 resource limit!! Also, if the stocks are worth a lot, she might still go over the limit even with the home purchase. The SSI program is designed to TRAP people in poverty!

That's true about leftover funds, but there are other excluded resources she could consider for any excess, like burial funds (up to $1,500), home improvements, or even ABLE accounts depending on when her disability began. She should definitely discuss all options with a benefits counselor before making any decisions.

What's interesting is that these recalculations are affected by how much you were making before. I worked part-time after taking SS at 63 but since I was only making about $12k a year, it wasn't enough to replace any of my previous 35 highest years when I was making $50k+. So I never saw any increases. I think you need to be making at least close to what you were making before to see any meaningful adjustment.

I just remembered something else - if you've been getting statements in the mail or checking your mySocialSecurity account, you might see an estimate that says what your benefit would be if you stopped working now. That estimate doesn't actually reflect any recalculations, it's just showing what you'd get if you applied today. The actual AERO adjustment is separate from that estimate.