Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! This clears up a lot of my confusion. I'm going to take that consulting job and not worry about an earnings limit. I'll talk to my tax person about possibly making estimated quarterly payments to cover the extra income and maybe adjusting my withholding on my Social Security benefits too. Really appreciate all the explanations!

I just wanted to apologize for my earlier response. I was confusing the rules before and after FRA. My husband was still 6 months away from his FRA when he went back to work, which is why he saw a reduction. Thank you to everyone who provided the correct information!

BTW make sure u know filing at 62 means permanently reduced benefits! I did it and sometimes regret not waiting longer

After reading through this thread, I want to summarize the correct information for clarity: 1. You cannot receive both your own retirement benefit AND an ex-spouse benefit at full value simultaneously. 2. If eligible for both, you receive the higher of the two amounts. 3. The "restricted application" strategy that allowed collecting one benefit while the other grows was eliminated for anyone born after January 1, 1954. 4. At age 62, both your own retirement benefit and any ex-spouse benefit would be reduced by approximately 30% from their full retirement age amounts. 5. The rep likely meant you'd receive $900 total (not $900 + $600). I strongly recommend getting a detailed benefits calculation from SSA showing your options at different claiming ages before making any decisions.

Update: I took the advice about requesting critical case status and brought documentation about my financial hardship to the local office yesterday. The claims specialist was actually very helpful and submitted the request. She said it should speed things up considerably. Also got confirmation that I'll receive full back pay once it's resolved. Thanks everyone for your suggestions - this has been so stressful!

That's great news! The critical case designation really does make a difference. When you get your benefits sorted out, make sure to check that they've calculated everything correctly. My backpay had errors initially and I had to get them to recalculate.

I think everyone's making this too complicated lol. Here's the simple version: if he was on SSDI when he died, that's the same amount as full retirement. SSDI payments aren't reduced like early retirement is. So you'd get that full amount after GPO repeal (if it happens). But honestly don't get your hopes up about the repeal, they've been promising that forever.

Has anyone heard when the House will vote on the GPO repeal? My pension from teaching for 31 years is eating almost ALL of my late husband's SS benefit and I'm struggling to make ends meet!!

one more thing - make SURE they understand ur wanting to take ONLY the widow benefit and let ur own retirement benefit grow until 70. sometimes they dont understand that and put u on retirement benefits instead of widows if that's higher. happened to my sister and it was a nightmare to fix!!

To clarify a key point here: Widow(er) benefits reach their maximum at your FRA - not before. If the SSA told you you'd get the full amount before your FRA, that information is incorrect. What makes this particularly important in your situation is that you're planning the common strategy of taking reduced survivor benefits while letting your own retirement benefit grow until age 70. This is often the optimal approach for widows/widowers with strong earnings records. I recommend calling the SSA back and specifically asking these questions: 1. What exact percentage of my deceased husband's benefit will I receive starting in May 2026? 2. When exactly will my survivor benefit reach 100% (this should be your FRA month)? 3. Can they document this information in writing for your records?