when my wife got disability for her back and diabetes she had to get statements from EVERY doctor and they all had to agree she couldnt work. make sure all his doctors are on the same page!!! also SSI and SSDI are different things. SSDI is based on his work credits and SSI is for people with no assets. he might qualify for both until SSDI kicks in since hes living with your mom and has no assets

You mentioned your brother's FMLA ends in March. He should immediately have a conversation with his HR department about accommodations under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) which might provide additional job protection beyond FMLA. Regarding getting representation: while you can start the application process yourself online at ssa.gov, having a disability attorney from the beginning often results in stronger initial applications. Most disability lawyers offer free consultations. Look for attorneys who specialize specifically in Social Security disability (not just general personal injury), preferably ones who are members of NOSSCR (National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives).

One thing nobody's mentioned - if your husband goes over the earnings limit in a month, ONLY THAT MONTH'S benefits are affected. It's not like you lose everything forever! And once he reaches full retirement age (66+), the earnings limit goes away completely and he can earn as much as he wants with no penalty. So even if you make a mistake, it's not the end of the world.

wait plasma donations are worth $500 a month???? maybe i should start doing that lol

i heard socal offices are super backed up right now because of all the boomers retiring. my dad had to wait 5 months for his application to process last year but that was for ssdi not retirement

Thank you everyone for all this helpful advice! Based on what I'm hearing, I'll plan to submit my application in June 2025 for my October start date (4 months ahead). I'll make sure I have all my documents ready and will do the application online. And I appreciate the tip about possibly starting in September instead of October - that makes a lot of sense. If I run into any issues with reaching a representative, I'll check out that Claimyr service. This has been incredibly helpful!

I went through something similar last year when I was deciding between my own benefits and my late husband's. I found that applying at least 3 months before you want benefits to start gives SSA enough time to process everything. I applied in March for a June start date, and everything went smoothly. One thing to consider: when you switch to survivor benefits, you'll need to provide your marriage certificate and your spouse's death certificate if you haven't already done so for any prior SSA business. Having these documents ready ahead of time will make the process much smoother when you reach your FRA. In my case, I found applying online for my retirement benefits was straightforward, but I had to call for the survivor benefits part. Hope this helps!

Thank you all so much for this helpful information! I feel much better about my plan now. I think I'll apply online for my retirement benefits this week (aiming for a January start date) and then set a reminder in my calendar for 3 months before my FRA to start the survivor benefits application process. It's reassuring to know I don't need to mention my future plans during this initial application. And I'll make sure to have all my documents ready when it's time to apply for survivor benefits. If anyone has additional advice about the actual application process or things I should watch out for, I'd still love to hear it. Thanks again to everyone who responded!

Here's a key detail that often gets overlooked: The way the GPO is applied can sometimes seem like they're ignoring your spouse's work history, when that's not exactly what's happening. Your survivor benefit is first calculated based on your husband's full earning record (including all those manufacturing years). Then, that amount is reduced by 2/3 of your teacher's pension. If your pension is large enough, this can reduce your survivor benefit to zero, making it appear as if his work history wasn't counted at all. For example, if your calculated survivor benefit was $1,800/month based on his full history, but your teacher pension is $3,000/month, the GPO reduction would be $2,000 (2/3 of $3,000), reducing your survivor benefit to $0. This makes it seem like his work history didn't count, when it was actually used in the initial calculation.

I used to work for SSA, and I can tell you that mixed employment cases like yours are among the most complex. Here's what might have happened: 1. Your husband's Social Security benefit was calculated based on ALL his covered employment (manufacturing years) 2. If he had fewer than 30 years of substantial earnings under Social Security, the WEP reduced his benefit 3. When you applied for survivor benefits, you received a percentage of his already-reduced benefit 4. The GPO then further reduced that amount based on 2/3 of your teacher's pension If the Social Security Fairness Act passes, both reductions would be eliminated, potentially increasing your benefit significantly. Until then, I strongly recommend requesting a detailed breakdown of your benefit calculation to ensure no errors were made. Sometimes earnings years are missing from the record or calculations are applied incorrectly.