wait im confused now... so if her husband takes survivor benefits at 60 but keeps working until 62, would he lose some of those payments? and does the survivor benefit amount depend on when she dies or is it always the same?

Thanks everyone for all the helpful information! Based on your responses, it sounds like our plan makes sense. My husband will probably wait until he actually retires at 62 to claim any survivor benefits (if I pass away before then) to avoid the earnings test issues. Then he can still switch to his own benefit at 70. Can anyone recommend the best way to get this strategy confirmed officially with SSA? Should we make an appointment at our local office or is there a specific department we should call?

Quick follow-up on my earlier response: when you go back to SSA, ask specifically about the "restricted application" for survivor benefits. This is the technical term for what you want to do - restricting your application to ONLY the survivor benefit while letting your own retirement benefit grow. Also, you should know that survivor benefits taken before your Full Retirement Age are reduced for early claiming (unlike switching to your own benefit at 70, which doesn't get penalized). Since you're turning 65 and your FRA is 66 and 10 months, that $1,850 figure already includes the early claiming reduction. If you waited until your FRA to claim the survivor benefit, it would be slightly higher, but that's rarely the optimal financial strategy when your own benefit will exceed the survivor benefit eventually.

this is why i always tell people to do their own research about social security before going in. so many of the workers give wrong info its scary!!

thats always how it goes lol! glad u figured it out tho!!!

Thanks for updating us! This makes much more sense. Yes, SSI does have strict asset limits, so the SSA representative was correct about that program. This is a common area of confusion for many people. If your father's only income is his Social Security retirement benefit and it's on the lower end, it can sometimes be worth looking into SSI as a supplement. But with $300k in savings, he definitely wouldn't qualify until those assets were spent down substantially. Glad you got this sorted out!

Quick update on my experience - after my waiver was approved for that 1981 overpayment, I asked the SSA rep what caused these ancient claims to suddenly appear. She explained that SSA has been digitizing old paper records, and sometimes these conversions flag previously undetected issues in their automated systems. So it's not that they've been sitting on this for 47 years - their system likely just identified it during some database modernization. Still frustrating, but at least explains the bizarre timing.

UPDATE: I filed both the waiver and reconsideration forms yesterday. The SSA office actually had a helpful person who explained they're seeing several of these old student benefit cases right now due to a system modernization project (just like @RetirementPlanner mentioned). She seemed to think the waiver had a good chance of approval given the time passage and that I was a dependent student. I'll update again when I hear the final decision. Thanks everyone for your advice - I feel much more confident about handling this now instead of just paying it out of frustration!

Here's another tip: When you submit your application online, you'll get a confirmation number. Write this down immediately! I didn't, and when I needed to follow up on my application status, they kept asking for it. Also, create a my Social Security account online if you haven't already - you can track your application status there and it's much easier than calling.

Just to clarify something important: Even though you'll continue working, you should still apply for Medicare at 65 (if you haven't already), regardless of when you plan to start your Social Security benefits. Many people don't realize these are separate decisions. Missing your Medicare Initial Enrollment Period can result in permanent premium penalties, even if you have employer coverage.