heres something nobody mentioned - if ur mom and dad get divorced in future she could lose these benefits!! unless they stay married for at least 10 yrs then she can keep them even after divorce. but if theyre already been separated for decades sounds like theyve passed that 10 yr mark anyway so should be ok

I went through this exact process with my grandmother last year! A few practical tips that might help your mom: 1. Call SSA early in the morning (8 AM sharp) for the best chance of getting through - the phone lines are slightly less busy then. 2. When she applies, ask the representative to calculate her exact benefit amount on the spot. They can run the numbers immediately and tell her what to expect. 3. The effective date will be the month she applies (not retroactive beyond 6 months), so don't delay! 4. If the SSA office requires an appointment, some locations accept walk-ins for "quick questions" - she could try calling to ask if they'll at least let her submit the application paperwork without a full appointment. 5. Keep copies of everything she submits. The SSA sometimes loses paperwork. Even a modest increase would help her situation. The most important thing is getting the process started. Good luck to your mom!

Thanks for this thoughtful advice. I think I'll create that spreadsheet to visualize the scenarios better. The quality of life considerations are important too - I don't love my job but don't hate it either. I think I'm leaning toward a middle path, maybe claiming around 65. That gives me some early retirement years but doesn't reduce the benefit quite as drastically as claiming at 62.

I'm glad this discussion has been so helpful! As someone who just went through this exact decision process last year, I wanted to add one more perspective. I ended up creating what I called a "regret minimization" framework instead of just focusing on break-even math. I asked myself: "Which choice would I regret LEAST if things don't go as planned?" For me, that was waiting until 66 (one year before my FRA). Here's why: if I live a long life, I'm not leaving too much on the table compared to waiting until 67. But if something happens to me earlier, I still got several years of benefits I wouldn't have had by waiting the full time. It felt like the sweet spot between the two extremes. The peace of mind from having that guaranteed monthly income bump was worth more to me than the mathematical optimization. Sometimes the "good enough" decision that you can sleep well with is better than the theoretically perfect one that keeps you up at night worrying!

I called SSA this morning and finally got through after trying for days! The agent explained that my benefit is actually a combination of my own small retirement benefit plus a spousal supplement that brings the total to $1,200. The math works out exactly as you all explained! She said my own benefit at 62 was calculated at $320 (reduced from my PIA of about $500), and then they added a reduced spousal supplement of $880 to reach $1,200 total. The full spousal benefit would have been around $1,950 if I'd waited until my FRA. I'm kicking myself a bit for not waiting, but at the time we really needed the income. At least now I understand how they calculated it. Thank you all so much for your help!

Has anyone noticed that the SSA calculators online are TERRIBLE at explaining spousal benefits? They focus almost entirely on retirement benefits based on your own record. Their website barely mentions that spousal benefits don't increase past FRA! I spent HOURS researching this when helping my mother with her benefits. The most important details are buried in footnotes or completely missing!

I want to thank everyone for their incredibly helpful responses! I've learned so much about WEP and now understand I need to confirm exactly how many years of "substantial earnings" I have according to SSA's specific thresholds. I'm going to try contacting SSA to get my full earnings record and request written confirmation about my WEP status. It sounds like with my 32 years in the private sector, I'm likely exempt from WEP reductions as long as my earnings met the thresholds for at least 30 of those years. I'll also look into whether my state highway department might have a Section 218 Agreement, though I'm pretty sure we don't pay into Social Security there. Thanks again for clarifying this confusing topic - I feel much better prepared to finalize my retirement plans now!

Great summary Aisha! One additional tip - when you get your earnings record from SSA, you can actually request what's called a "WEP factsheet" that will show you exactly which years count toward your substantial earnings and what your projected benefit would be with and without WEP. This document is super helpful for retirement planning since it eliminates the guesswork. Also, if you find you're just short of the 30 years needed for full exemption, remember that you might still qualify for a reduced WEP penalty rather than the full reduction. The penalty decreases as you get closer to 30 years of substantial earnings. Good luck with your retirement planning!

I work as a benefits counselor and see this situation frequently. The key issue is likely in how they're applying the deeming formula with your ineligible child. Here's what should happen: Your $1,640 SSDI gets the $20 general income exclusion, making it $1,620. Then they subtract the ineligible child allocation of $471, leaving $1,149 as deemed income to your wife. Her SSI should be $943 (individual rate) minus this $1,149, which would indeed zero out her benefits. However, if you're in a state with an SSI supplement, the calculation might be different. Also double-check that they're not mistakenly using the couple rate ($1,415) instead of the individual rate for her potential payment. The fact that your math shows she should get $200 suggests there might be an error in their calculation or they have incorrect household information on file.

I've been through a similar situation when my spouse started receiving SSDI. One thing that really helped us was requesting what's called a "manual computation" from SSA - basically asking them to recalculate everything step by step while you're there or on the phone. Sometimes their automated systems don't properly account for all the exclusions and allocations, especially the ineligible child piece. Also, make sure they know your exact living situation. If you rent vs own your home, or if there have been any changes in your household composition since your wife first applied for SSI, that could affect the calculation. The representative I worked with found that they had outdated information about our rent amount, which was throwing off the entire computation. Don't give up - even if the math works out that she's technically ineligible now, there might be other factors or exclusions that should apply to your situation. Michigan does have some state supplemental payments in certain circumstances, so definitely mention that when you call.