Thanks everyone for the responses! I'm going to call SSA at least 3 months before my birthday to specifically request them to recalculate my benefit with my additional work years. Sounds like it could potentially increase my monthly amount, even if just a little bit. Every dollar helps at this point!

One more important tip - when you call SSA, ask them to look at your new "computation years" and how your additional earnings affect your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME). Those are the technical terms they use internally. Also have ready a list of the years you worked while on SSDI and approximately how much you earned each year. This will help them pull up the right information more quickly. And keep in mind that if your original disability began before you had 35 years of earnings, these additional work years might be particularly valuable in increasing your benefit.

one more thing nobody said is about TAXES!! if u take both benefits you might push urself into higher tax bracket. thats what happened to my friend Judy and she was so mad!!

After reading through this whole thread, here's what I'd suggest based on what you've shared: 1. Since you don't need the immediate income (you have your teaching pension) and won't exceed the earnings limit with your consulting work, waiting until your FRA (67) to claim unreduced survivor benefits makes sense. 2. Then at 70, switch to your own retirement benefit which will have grown to approximately $3,224/month. 3. Before making a final decision, schedule an appointment with SSA to get a personalized analysis. They can run exact calculations based on your earnings record. 4. Consider meeting with a financial advisor who specializes in Social Security claiming strategies to factor in your complete financial picture, including tax implications. This strategy should maximize your lifetime benefits while providing income security.

I still dont understand why the government can take money we EARNED just because we also have a pension!! Its OUR MONEY that we paid in!! So unfair!!! My husband lost almost $600/month because of this stupid rule!!!

One strategy some people use if they're close to another year of substantial earnings is to work part-time in Social Security covered employment to reach another year threshold. Each additional year between 20-30 reduces your WEP penalty by about 5%. If you're only 1-2 years away from 30 years, it might be worth considering working a bit longer to significantly reduce or eliminate the WEP impact.

my aunt went thru this. she got the higher amount but it took almost 4 months to process after my uncle died. make sure u have marriage certificate and death certificate ready. they needed like 10 different documents its crazy.

This thread has been really informative. To summarize the key points for the original poster: 1. Yes, you can claim your reduced retirement benefit now at 62 2. If your husband passes away, you can switch to his higher benefit as a survivor 3. Your early claiming doesn't affect your eventual survivor benefit amount 4. There may be a reduction to the survivor benefit if you claim it before your FRA 5. Given the large difference between your benefit and your husband's, even a reduced survivor benefit would likely be higher than your own This is a common strategy for couples with large benefit disparities. The lower-earning spouse often claims early while the higher-earning spouse maximizes their benefit (which becomes the survivor benefit).

so is this different from the annual COLA increase? i always get confused about how they figure our payments

ANYONE notice how we all wait months or YEARS for these tiny increases while members of Congress vote themselves raises whenever they want?? my neighbor worked full time last year and only got $32 more in his benefit - what a joke when DC elites get gold-plated pensions!!

I think everyone's missing an important point here. At 60, you're already eligible to claim REDUCED survivor benefits if you qualified for them (which you don't in this case because of the divorce). But when you reach 62, you become eligible for reduced divorced spouse benefits from your first husband while continuing to receive your SSDI. That's because the rule changed a few years ago - you can now receive both SSDI and reduced divorced spouse benefits at the same time if you're at least 62 but below FRA. This is called the 'deemed filing rule exception' for disabled beneficiaries.

Just to address your last question: If you decide to remarry now, you will definitely continue receiving your SSDI benefits (these are based on your own work record and are not affected by marriage). However, you would give up the potential to claim divorced spouse benefits from your first husband until/unless your new marriage ends. Since you're already 60, if you wait until 62, you could compare your SSDI amount with potential divorced spouse benefits and choose the higher option - but ONLY if you remain unmarried. This is why getting those specific benefit amounts from SSA is so important to your decision-making process.

To address your follow-up questions: Yes, the same earnings limit applies whether you're receiving retirement or survivor benefits. The $22,320 limit (plus inflation adjustments in coming years) applies until the year you reach FRA, when the limit is higher for months before your birthday. If you're working and planning to switch between benefits, sometimes it makes sense to take the smaller benefit during high-earning years, then switch to the larger benefit after you retire or reach FRA when the earnings test no longer applies.

Thank you all so much for these detailed responses! This has been incredibly helpful. I'm making notes of everything so I'll be prepared if I ever need to navigate survivor benefits. I'm going to verify my husband's actual benefit amount at 62 vs. FRA, look into how the dual reductions would work, and make sure I understand the earnings test implications since I plan to work part-time. It's complicated, but I feel much more informed now. Thanks again for all your help!

just make sure u keep good records. my mom had to show marriage certificate and prove she wasnt remarried. death certificate had wrong info about dads marital status and that caused problems

Since you mentioned the earnings difference, here's something to consider: When you're both alive, the optimal claiming strategy can be complex. But for survivor benefits, the key thing to understand is that when one spouse dies, the survivor gets to keep the HIGHER of the two benefit amounts, not both. So if your wife has the higher benefit, you might want her to delay claiming as long as possible (up to age 70) to maximize the survivor benefit you'd receive if she passes first. Her benefit grows 8% per year from FRA to age 70, and that growth would pass to you as the survivor. For your own benefit, the claiming strategy might be different depending on your health, other income sources, and when you plan to stop working.

my mom died last year too and i had same problem!! waited forever for her ss-1099 then gave up and did taxes without it. big mistake!! got a letter from irs 6 months later saying we underpaid taxes bc didn't report all her income!! had to file amended return and pay penalty and interest!! dont do what i did lol. definitely wait for that form or get an official replacement!!

hey just checking in - did you end up getting your dads 1099 yet? mine just came yesterday for my mom so maybe yours is on the way

After you go to that April appointment, please come back and share what they told you! I'm in a similar boat (husband has a state pension) and I'm trying to figure out if I should even bother applying for spousal benefits on his record. The whole GPO thing makes my head spin!!!

One more important thing to check during your appointment: make sure they've properly accounted for any Social Security-covered work you might have done in addition to your non-covered government job. Sometimes people have mixed employment histories with both covered and non-covered work, which can affect how the GPO is applied. If you have at least 30 years of substantial earnings under Social Security in addition to your government work, you might be exempt from GPO entirely. This is rare but worth confirming.