Thanks everyone for the excellent advice! I'm going to help my wife apply for SSI to document her disability status, even though we expect to be denied due to our household income. We'll also work on gathering all her medical records and making sure her condition is well-documented. And we'll definitely use that phone service to speak directly with SSA about our specific situation. This community has been incredibly helpful - I feel much better informed about our options now. Turning off comments.

I'm glad you found all this advice helpful! Just wanted to add one small but important detail - when your wife applies for SSI to establish her disability status, make sure she keeps copies of EVERYTHING she submits. The initial application, all medical records, denial letters, everything. If she ever needs to apply for disabled widow's benefits later, having that complete paper trail will save you both a lot of headaches. Also, don't be discouraged if the SSI application gets denied initially - that's actually expected in your case due to household income, but the important thing is getting her condition officially reviewed and documented by SSA. Good luck to both of you!

One other piece of advice - if you expect to earn over the limit, you can voluntarily suspend your benefits for any months you expect to exceed it, rather than having SSA calculate the withholding. This can give you more control over when the reductions occur. Just contact SSA before the month you want to suspend. You can then resume benefits in months where your earnings will be lower.

Just wanted to add one more consideration for your planning - make sure you understand how the earnings test calculates "earnings." It only counts wages and net self-employment income, NOT things like pensions, 401k withdrawals, investment income, rental income, or other retirement income. So if you're transitioning to part-time work but also have other income sources, only your actual work earnings count toward that $22,320 limit. This might give you more flexibility in your income planning than you initially thought!

just wonderin has anyone actually gotten their benefits recalculated yet after this wep repeel? my husband called ssa and they said they dont have guidanse yet on how to implement the changes :/

As someone who's been following Social Security policy changes closely, I want to add a few practical considerations for your decision. The WEP/GPO repeal is indeed a game-changer, but you're right to think carefully about timing. Since you mentioned having 11 zeros in your 35-year calculation, continuing to work until 70 serves a dual purpose: replacing those zeros with actual earnings AND getting the 8% delayed retirement credits. That's potentially a significant boost to your monthly benefit. Also, keep in mind that your teaching pension is substantial at $3,750/month, so you're not in a position where you desperately need the Social Security income right now. The math strongly favors waiting if you're in good health and have family longevity on your side. One tip: create a my Social Security account online if you haven't already - it should eventually reflect the WEP elimination in your benefit estimates, though as others noted, the system updates are still rolling out.

have u looked into the childhood disability benefit (CDB)? its different than SSI and might be better in your case since your son already gets benefits from dad

Thank you everyone for the helpful responses! I called my local SSA office this morning and got some additional information. They confirmed what many of you said - my son can receive both benefits, but the SSI amount will be reduced. They also explained that the autism diagnosis doesn't affect his current benefits from his dad at all. I'm going to go ahead with the SSI application mainly for the Medicaid coverage. Really appreciate all your help navigating this complicated system!

Thank you all for the incredibly helpful information! This clarifies so much for me. I'm going to look more closely at the numbers and possibly consult with someone at SSA to get specifics for our situation. One more question: If I continue working past my FRA until, say, 67 or 70, would those additional earnings potentially increase the survivor benefit calculation if they're higher than some of my earlier years?

Just wanted to add one more important consideration that hasn't been mentioned yet - if your wife is caring for your child who is under 16 or disabled, she could potentially receive survivor benefits immediately (regardless of her age) as a "mother's benefit" or "caregiver benefit." This benefit would be 75% of your PIA and wouldn't have the same age restrictions as regular survivor benefits. Also, don't forget that any unmarried children under 18 (or up to 19 if still in high school, or any age if disabled before 22) would also be eligible for survivor benefits of 75% of your PIA each. These family benefits are subject to a family maximum, but it's something to factor into your overall planning. The planning you're doing now is really smart - having all this information ahead of time can make an incredibly difficult situation much more manageable for your wife.