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My sister went thru this EXACT situation!!! The SSA is SO CONFUSING with all there rules!!! They make everything complicated ON PURPOSE I swear!! She had to go to the office THREE TIMES to get a straight answer because everyone told her something different!!!
While SSA rules can be complex, this particular situation is actually straightforward. The SSDI to retirement conversion is automatic, and one spouse's filing decision doesn't force the other spouse to file. No office visits are necessary for this.
wait tho aren't you entitled to half ur husbands benefit when he files? my neighbor got her own SS then got extra $ when her husband filed for his
You're only entitled to a spousal benefit if 50% of your spouse's Primary Insurance Amount (PIA, which is their benefit at Full Retirement Age) is higher than your own benefit. Since the original poster is receiving $2,100/month from her own work record, her husband's PIA would need to be more than $4,200/month for her to receive any spousal benefit. This is possible but above average. Your neighbor likely had a much smaller benefit on her own record compared to her husband's.
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I recommend getting a detailed benefit estimate from SSA before making any decisions. When I was getting disconnected repeatedly trying to call them, I found Claimyr (claimyr.com) was worth it to get connected. Their service got me through to an actual person who pulled up all my numbers and walked me through different scenarios. The video on their site shows exactly how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. Made a huge difference to have accurate numbers to work with.
Did you find they gave you different information than what was in your online account? I've been trying to help my brother with his disability application and we can't tell if the estimates online are accurate.
I'm a retired SSA claims specialist, and I want to clarify something important: Your husband being on SSDI prior to death actually works in your favor. Since SSDI payments are calculated as if the person had reached full retirement age (regardless of actual age), his benefit amount wasn't reduced. This means your survivor benefit will be based on his full SSDI amount. Regarding your strategy - yes, it's perfectly allowable to take your own reduced retirement at 62 and switch to survivor benefits at your FRA. However, based on what you've shared, you should calculate whether taking survivor benefits early (as young as 60) and then switching to your own benefit at 70 might give you more money over your lifetime. This depends on your own earnings record and life expectancy. Also, don't overlook the potential for the Lump Sum Death Payment of $255 if you haven't already claimed it. And be aware that remarriage before age 60 would affect eligibility for survivor benefits. I'd recommend scheduling an appointment with your local office specifically for a WEP/GPO determination to ensure there are no surprises related to pensions that might affect your benefits.
Thank you for this expert insight! I didn't realize my husband's SSDI being calculated at FRA rates would benefit me this way. I'll definitely ask about running calculations for both strategies (my reduced benefit first vs. survivor benefit first) to see which maximizes my lifetime amount. I've already received the lump sum death payment, but I appreciate you mentioning it for others who might be reading this thread.
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One more thing - be careful about the earnings limit while getting survivor benefits before FRA. But since you're 66 and FRA for survivor benefits is currently 66, you should be past that problem. Just mentioning it for others reading this thread who might be younger.
Good point about the earnings limit. For those who don't know: if you're receiving survivor benefits and are under your FRA, you can only earn up to a certain amount ($21,240 in 2023) before they start temporarily reducing your benefit. But once you reach FRA (like the original poster has), there's no earnings limit - you can earn any amount without affecting your benefits.
Something else to consider - since you've been self-employed, make sure all your tax returns accurately reported your self-employment income on Schedule SE. I've seen cases where self-employed people accidentally underreported their income to SSA (while correctly reporting it to IRS), which reduced their Social Security benefits later. If you find any reporting errors from past years, you generally have 3 years, 3 months, and 15 days from the year in question to correct them. So you can't fix very old issues, but more recent ones might be fixable.
I've always been careful with my Schedule SE since accounting is my business, but that's a good reminder. I'll double-check my recent returns just to be sure everything was reported correctly. Thank you!
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My husband and I went through something similar!!! The withdrawal form was soooo confusing and when we submitted it they said it was filled out wrong. They made us redo EVERYTHING and it took almost 3 months to process!! Meanwhile they kept depositing money we knew we'd have to pay back and it was so stressful!!! Just warning you it might not be quick or easy!!!
This is why I recommend sitting down with an SSA representative when filling out Form SSA-521. They can ensure everything is filled out correctly the first time, which helps avoid the scenario you experienced.
Thank you all for the helpful responses. After reading your comments and doing more research, I think we're going to schedule an appointment at our local SSA office to go through all the calculations. Since I'm still within that 12-month window, we have some time to make the decision. I'm leaning toward the withdrawal since we both have longevity in our families (parents lived to late 80s/early 90s), but we need to make sure we understand all the implications for my wife's benefits and whether she should file on her own record in the meantime (she worked as a teacher for about 15 years).
That's a wise approach. Since your wife worked as a teacher, you should also ask specifically about the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) if she's eligible for a pension from that work. These can significantly affect Social Security benefits and must be factored into your calculations. Good luck with your decision!
Geoff Richards
Maybe this is a stupid question but why not just apply for SSI if SSDI isnt gonna work out? At least youd get something AND medicaid which helps with all the cancer treatment costs. Thats what my cousin did when he couldnt get SSDI cuz he hadnt worked in years.
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Hazel Garcia
•That's not a stupid question at all! You're absolutely right that SSI might be an option if SSDI doesn't work out. However, there are some important differences: 1. SSI payments are generally lower than SSDI (maximum of $943/month for individuals in 2025) 2. SSI has strict asset limits of $2,000 for individuals 3. SSDI has no asset limits and payment amounts are based on your prior earnings 4. After 24 months on SSDI, you qualify for Medicare Ideally, OP should pursue both paths - try to establish an onset date for SSDI that falls before their Date Last Insured expired, while also continuing with the SSI application as a backup plan. That's likely why SSA is processing both.
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Shelby Bauman
Just wanted to add - make sure you tell SSA about ALL of your medical conditions, not just the cancer. If your disability claim goes back to 2012, they need to know everything that contributed to your inability to work back then. Many successful disability claims involve multiple conditions that combined make working impossible.
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Josef Tearle
•That's an excellent point. I have several chronic conditions besides the cancer that started back in 2012-2013. I'll make sure to document all of them and find my old medical records. Thank you!
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