Since you mentioned you worked as a teacher not covered by Social Security for part of your career, the WEP/GPO issue raised by another commenter is crucial. The Government Pension Offset can reduce your widow's benefit by 2/3 of your teacher's pension amount. This could significantly impact your strategy. Here's what I recommend: 1. Get your benefit estimates from SSA (online or by phone) 2. Ask specifically how WEP/GPO affects each benefit type in your case 3. Calculate which claiming strategy maximizes your lifetime benefits Generally, if your widow's benefit will be substantially higher than your own retirement benefit (even after GPO reduction), taking your own reduced benefit at 62 and switching to widow's benefits at your FRA often works best. But this is very specific to your individual circumstances.

just wanna add my two cents - my mom was in a similar boat and SSA never told her she could switch benefits later! she found out from a friend years later that she could have been getting more. definitely get a second opinion and talk to someone who specializes in widows benefits. the frontline SSA people dont always know all the rules.

One thing to note - even after you submit the W-4V, it's a good idea to check your first payment after it's supposed to take effect to make sure the withholding is actually happening. SSA sometimes makes processing errors with these forms. If you see no withholding after 4-5 weeks, follow up with them.

Anybody know if you can change the withholding percentage later if you need to? Like if I start with 10% but realize I need more taken out?

I HATE how SSA makes everything so confusing!!! Why can't they just have clear instructions?? The whole system is designed to make people mess up IMO. I applied three times before getting approved because they kept saying I was missing something but never clearly told me what!! So frustrating!!

Just to add to my earlier comment - one more thing to be aware of is that SSA processes applications in the order received. If you're applying for benefits to begin in June, and you submitted in April, you should have plenty of time. They generally need about 2-3 months to process retirement applications. If they need documents, responding quickly will help avoid delays. But don't worry too much at this point - the fact that you received a confirmation page means your application was successfully submitted and is in their queue for processing.

ive been getting SS retirement since 63 and VA disability since forever... both deposits hit my bank account no problem... u earned both so u get both

One more thing I just remembered - when you do apply, they'll ask if you want Medicare Part B (the medical insurance part that costs $175.30/month in 2025). Even if you use VA healthcare, you might want to consider enrolling in Part B because VA doesn't always cover everything, and if you decline Part B now but want it later, you'll pay permanent penalties. I have both VA healthcare and Medicare as backup, and it's given me more options for specialists.

One thing I don't think anyone mentioned yet - when you do switch to survivor benefits, you'll need to contact the Treasury Department to return any of your husband's benefits that may have been paid for the month of death or after. SSA benefits are not prorated - if someone dies any day during a month (even the 31st), that month's payment needs to be returned. It's a bit confusing but important to handle properly to avoid overpayment issues later.

If your husband's payment for the month in which he died was directly deposited, the bank should be notified. Typically, Social Security will contact the bank to request the return of the payment. However, if the funds have been spent, Social Security will contact you to arrange repayment. It's best to leave those funds untouched until this is resolved. When you have your appointment about survivor benefits, mention this situation so they can help you handle it correctly.

One additional point that might help with your decision: if you're going to continue working part-time after claiming benefits, and you've already reached your Full Retirement Age (FRA), there is NO limit on how much you can earn while still receiving your full Social Security benefit. So in your case, once you reach FRA in February 2025, you could work as much or as little as you want with no impact on your benefits. This gives you flexibility to gradually reduce your hours or even continue working part-time indefinitely if you enjoy your job.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful information! I feel much better about my plan to reduce hours next year knowing it won't significantly impact my SS benefits after 46 years of work. I'm thinking I'll probably work part-time until my actual FRA in February 2025 and then file for benefits at that point to avoid any complications with the earnings test. I'll check with my HR department about the vacation payout timing too - good point about the tax implications.

I finally managed to get back into my account after dealing with the same problem. What worked for me was weird, but I'll share in case it helps. I created a brand new email address, then called SSA and asked them to update my contact email to the new one. After that, I did the "forgot password" option with the new email, and it finally let me reset everything and get in without the loop! The rep told me sometimes their system gets confused when your email has been used for multiple attempts or password resets.

UPDATE: I tried several of the suggestions here and FINALLY got back into my account! What worked was a combination of things: I waited 24 hours without trying to log in (hardest part!), used an incognito window, and tried at 6:30am when the system might be less busy. When I got my verification code, I waited about 45 seconds before entering it like someone suggested here. The loop is broken! I'm now able to access my account and check my retirement benefit estimates. THANK YOU all for your help - this community saved me from giving up completely!

The whole GPO/WEP thing is SO UNFAIR!!! I worked as a teacher for 28 years and as a waitress (paying SS taxes) for 12 years, and I get penalized for BOTH! Can't get much of my husband's SS because of GPO and my own SS is reduced because of WEP. Double whammy for public servants!!! Congress needs to repeal these awful provisions NOW!!

A few follow-up points that might help: 1. Your 7 years in retail likely gave you around 28 quarters of coverage (if you worked all four quarters each year). You need 40 for your own benefit, so you'd be short unless you had other covered employment. 2. If you're already 67, you're at your Full Retirement Age (FRA), which is good timing for benefits if you do qualify. 3. The GPO calculation is straightforward but often misunderstood: Your spousal benefit would normally be 50% of your husband's PIA (Primary Insurance Amount), then reduced by 2/3 of your non-covered pension. I strongly recommend getting an appointment with SSA to review your specific earnings record and get accurate calculations for your situation.

my husban was a police officer in ohio and WEP took almost HALF his ss benifits even though he worked other jobs for 20 years and paid in!!!!! its absolutly criminal what they do to public servents who paid into both systems!!!!

One important thing to note is that if your wife worked any jobs that DID pay into Social Security (maybe summer jobs, part-time work before teaching, etc.) and earned at least 40 credits (roughly 10 years of work), she might be eligible for her own Social Security benefit. In that case, WEP would apply to her own benefit instead of GPO applying to spousal benefits. This gets complicated fast, but sometimes people find they're better off claiming their own reduced benefit under WEP than getting nothing under GPO. Might be worth checking her earnings record on MySocialSecurity to see if she has any SS credits.

One more thing to consider - if your potential spouse has a significantly higher Social Security benefit than your $1,400, marriage might actually INCREASE your total household benefits. As a spouse, you'd be eligible for up to 50% of your spouse's benefit amount if that's higher than your own. So depending on your fiancé's work history, marriage could be financially beneficial from a Social Security perspective.

I heard there's some kinda special rule if ur a federal employee or teacher too??