my uncle died from cancer last year and his wife had to bring the death certificate to the SS office in person to get survivor bennefits. they wouldnt do it on the phone. just so u know for planning.

One last thing about the SSDI application - make sure your doctor includes detailed notes about your physical limitations and how the cancer and treatment affect your ability to work. Mention specific job requirements you can no longer meet (standing/walking requirements, lifting restrictions, cognitive issues from chemo, etc). This strengthens your case tremendously. Wishing you the best with your treatment and hoping for a full recovery.

One other thing to consider - will your current spouse's benefit be higher than what you'd get from your ex's record? If so, you might want to just stick with that when you reach full retirement age. SSA won't necessarily tell you which option is better financially, so you need to ask specific questions about potential amounts. I almost missed out on thousands by not comparing my options!

One more important note: survivors benefits can be claimed as early as age 60 (unlike retirement benefits which start at 62), but taking them early will permanently reduce the monthly amount. At 62, you'd receive about 81.2% of what you'd get at your full retirement age. Sometimes it makes financial sense to claim survivor benefits early and then switch to your own retirement benefit later (or vice versa). This strategy can maximize your lifetime benefits.

The WHOLE system is designed to make us fail!!! I filed for my own retirement at 62 and got a PATHETIC amount because I took time off to raise kids. Meanwhile my ex will get FULL benefits even though I supported HIM through graduate school!! The system is COMPLETELY unfair to women, especially those of us who divorced before our spouses hit their peak earning years!!!

My neighbor was in kinda the same boat and she ended up just focusing on building her own retirement instead. Probably better in the long run anyway.

Looks like you've got good advice already. One thing I'd add is to print a copy of your application confirmation and save that email saying your application was assigned. Documentation is so important with SSA! I'd still call in a few weeks as planned - if they don't mention the retroactive benefits, specifically ask if they processed the request in your comments. Better to be proactive than have to fix it later.

I'm confused about something. I thought you only get retroactive pay if you file AFTER your full retirement age? I'm 63 and planning to claim next year. Can I get retroactive payments too?

Don't forget that overseas earnings might count toward US Social Security under certain totalization agreements. I think Australia has one with the US. You should check if some of those foreign years might actually count toward your US benefit.

Thanks everyone for your helpful responses! This has been really educational. So it sounds like my statement estimate already factors in my zero years, which is a relief. And with WEP repealed, I won't see a reduction based on my Australian pension. Each year I work now basically replaces a zero year in my calculation, which should boost my benefit. I'll try to get through to SSA to confirm all this (maybe using that Claimyr service if I can't get through the normal channels). Really appreciate all your insights!

just wondering, how much would your own benefit be at 67? is it close to the survivor benefit or way less?

Since you mentioned specific numbers in your reply to another comment ($1,850 for your benefit at FRA vs $2,100 survivor benefit), let me add some helpful math: By delaying your retirement benefit from 67 to 70, you'd get an additional 8% per year for 3 years (24% total increase). That would potentially make your own benefit around $2,294 at age 70 ($1,850 × 1.24), which would exceed your current survivor benefit. This is exactly the type of situation where the switching strategy could benefit you. You could continue receiving the survivor benefit until 70, then switch to your own (higher) retirement benefit for the rest of your life. Definitely worth discussing with an SSA representative to get exact figures based on your earnings record.

im still confused about this stuff lol... do your SS payments go up based on COLAs too or just the recalculation thing??

Thanks everyone for all the helpful information! I think I have a much better understanding now. To summarize what I've learned: 1. SSA will automatically recalculate my benefit each year if my new earnings replace a lower year 2. These increases might be modest but they do happen automatically 3. I need to be aware of the earnings test if I claim before my FRA - this could significantly reduce my benefits temporarily 4. Once I reach FRA, I'll get credit back for any benefits withheld due to the earnings test I'm going to reconsider my strategy and might wait until my Full Retirement Age after all, since I plan to continue working. That would avoid the complications with the earnings test entirely.

That's exactly right! Just watch your earnings for July and August, and from September onward you're completely free from any earnings restrictions. If your July-August income might put you over the prorated limit, you could always ask your employer to delay your hours increase until September to avoid any potential benefit reduction.

Thank you everyone for the helpful information! I'm going to accept the full-time position now that I understand the rules better. It's such a relief to know I only need to be mindful of my earnings through July, and after that, I'm free to earn without restrictions. I really appreciate all the clear explanations and personal experiences shared here!

To follow up on your question about the 15 years of covered employment - yes, that does make a difference. The WEP reduction is lessened if you have 21+ years of "substantial earnings" under Social Security. With 15 years, your husband wouldn't quite reach that threshold, but it's still important information for SSA to have. Regarding reporting, you don't typically need to report every year if nothing has changed. But when there's a COLA increase to the non-covered pension, that should be reported. Some people get confused because the SSA-150 form is titled "Report of Employer Pension Information" which sounds like it's only for the initial pension, but it should also be used for COLA increases. I'd suggest bringing documentation for all three years of COLA increases when you contact them.

After you get this sorted out, set a reminder for yourself each May to report any new COLA increases. That's what I do for my husband's pension. Just mark it on your calendar so you don't forget - dealing with an overpayment later is much more hassle than making a quick report each year!

When my husband died I got so confused about all these rules. Ended up just putting everything off for a year because I was afraid of losing benefits. Wish I'd asked sooner like you did!

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! So to summarize what I've learned: 1. 401k/403b withdrawals DON'T count for the earnings test that would reduce my widow benefits 2. Selling my home also WON'T reduce my benefits 3. BUT both might increase how much of my benefits are taxable This is such a relief. I was holding off on accessing my retirement funds because I thought I'd lose benefits. Going to schedule both transactions next month!