Welcome to the community, Javier! You've gotten some excellent advice here already. Just to summarize the key points for your situation: 1. **Apply in June** (3 months before your September birthday) 2. **First payment arrives in October** (benefits are paid the month after they're due) 3. **Monthly earnings test applies** in your first year - you can earn up to $1,860/month without benefit reduction after you start collecting 4. **Pre-September earnings don't matter** - only what you earn in months when you're actually receiving benefits Since you're planning to have already exceeded the annual limit by September, you're in a perfect position to take advantage of that monthly test. If you stop working or significantly reduce hours in September, you should receive full benefits from that point forward. One additional tip: Make sure to report any work income to SSA promptly once you start receiving benefits. They have an online portal where you can report monthly earnings, which helps avoid overpayments that would need to be repaid later. Good luck with your retirement planning!

Great summary from Victoria! I'd like to add one more consideration that might be relevant to your situation, Javier. Since you mentioned your health isn't great in an earlier comment, you might want to look into whether you qualify for any disability benefits before claiming regular retirement at 62. Disability benefits aren't reduced for early claiming like retirement benefits are, so if you have a qualifying condition, you could potentially receive your full Primary Insurance Amount rather than the reduced amount you'd get by claiming at 62. You can actually apply for both and SSA will process whichever you're eligible for. Also, once you reach Full Retirement Age, disability benefits automatically convert to retirement benefits at the full amount. Just something to consider given your health concerns - it might be worth discussing with your doctor or a disability attorney to see if it's worth exploring. The application process can take longer for disability claims, so if you think you might qualify, you'd want to start that process sooner rather than later.

hey did ur husband ever work in the US at all? my uncle worked in both canada and US and my aunt got benefits from both places when he died!

Rachel, I'm so sorry for your loss. I went through a similar situation when my Irish husband passed away. Since your husband never worked in the US, you'll need to focus on the UK system for any benefits based on his work record. The UK does have "Bereavement Support Payment" which is different from their State Pension and has different age requirements - it's available to widows/widowers under State Pension age. You should definitely call that UK International Pension Centre number that Seraphina posted (+44 191 218 7777) and specifically ask about bereavement benefits, not just pension benefits. They have a whole separate system for widows that I wish someone had told me about earlier! Also, even with only 8 years of US work credits, you might still have some options through the totalization agreement if your husband had any UK National Insurance contributions. Don't give up - these cases are complex but there are often benefits available that aren't obvious at first.

Thank you all for the helpful advice! I think we're going to start with the online application but make sure to explicitly mention the spousal benefits in the remarks section. Then we'll follow up with a phone call to confirm everything is being processed correctly. If we run into trouble getting through on the phone, I might try that Claimyr service that someone mentioned. It's reassuring to hear from people who've been through similar situations. I'll update this thread once we get everything sorted out in case it helps someone else down the road. I really appreciate all your insights!

Good luck with your application! Just wanted to add one more tip - when you do the online application, take screenshots of each page as you go through it. I learned this the hard way when my mom applied and we had questions later about what she had entered. Having those screenshots saved us a lot of confusion when we needed to reference her original answers during a follow-up call. Also, if you do end up needing to call, try calling right when they open at 8am - the wait times are usually much shorter first thing in the morning. Hope everything goes smoothly for you and your wife!

Thank you all for the helpful information! I just checked my Social Security statement online and it does show earnings for all my years of work including my FERS time, which confirms what many of you have said about paying into the system during that time. I'm relieved to know that WEP probably won't affect me much since I was in FERS. I'm going to try to schedule an appointment with SSA to get the exact calculations. If I can't get through on the phone, I'll try that Claimyr service someone mentioned. One more question - does anyone know if any of this affects when I should start taking my Social Security benefits? I'll be 63 next year when I retire, but wondering if I should wait until my full retirement age or even 70?

As someone who went through a similar transition (federal service to private sector), I can confirm what others have said about FERS not being affected by WEP the same way CSRS is. However, I'd also recommend looking into whether you qualify for the "special retirement supplement" (SRS) if you retire before age 62. Since you have 23 years of FERS service, you might be eligible for this temporary payment that bridges the gap until you can claim Social Security at 62. The SRS is designed to approximate what your Social Security benefit would be based on your federal service alone, and it can provide valuable income during those early retirement years. Just something else to factor into your retirement planning timeline!

Based on what you've described, your best strategy is likely to focus on your own benefit. Since it will be higher than your potential spousal benefit (50% of your husband's FRA amount), you'll want to consider whether to take your own benefit early at 62 (with a permanent reduction) or wait until your Full Retirement Age (67) or even age 70 (for maximum benefits). Each year you delay claiming from 62 to 70 increases your benefit by approximately 8%, which is a guaranteed return that's hard to beat elsewhere. But of course, that depends on your health, financial needs, and other retirement income sources. And as others mentioned, definitely account for any potential WEP/GPO impacts in your calculations.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is that you might want to look into whether your husband has enough quarters of coverage under Social Security to even qualify for benefits. Since he's been primarily in a teaching system that doesn't pay into SS, he may not have the required 40 quarters (10 years) of covered employment to be eligible for Social Security benefits at all. If he doesn't qualify for his own SS benefit, then there wouldn't be any spousal benefit for you to claim from his record anyway. You'd only be eligible for survivor benefits if he passes away and had enough work credits. This could actually simplify your planning since you'd just focus entirely on optimizing your own benefit timing. You can check his coverage by looking at his Social Security Statement online - it will show exactly how many quarters he has earned under the SS system.