Great question. WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) reduced Social Security benefits for people who earned pensions from jobs not covered by Social Security (like many government jobs) but also worked enough in Social Security-covered jobs to qualify for benefits. As a postal worker, your pension was from a Social Security-covered job, so WEP never applied to you. You would have been affected by WEP only if your pension came from a job where you didn't pay Social Security taxes (like some state/local government positions, or foreign employment). When you apply next year, you'll get your full Social Security benefit based on your 18 years at Walmart without any WEP reduction.

You're right about the confusion, but the 6-month limit is correct. Even though you can apply after FRA and request retroactive benefits, SSA limits the retroactivity to 6 months maximum regardless of how long past FRA you are. It's in the POMS section GN 00204.030. So even if someone is 2 years past their FRA when they apply, they can still only get a maximum of 6 months of retroactive benefits. The OP's wife received exactly what was allowed under the rules.

Oh I see! Thanks for explaining. That's good to know since I'll be helping my sister apply soon and she's about 9 months past her FRA.

That's a really good point - thank you! I'll check with my dad about this right away. Mom passed on the 14th of last month, so I'm not sure how that works with partial months.

For Social Security benefits (including SSDI), if the person passes away at any point during a month, they are NOT entitled to the payment for that month. So if your mother passed on the 14th, the payment received for that month would need to be returned. If benefits are directly deposited, SSA will usually attempt to reclaim the funds electronically. If they can't, they'll send a notice requesting repayment. As the previous commenter mentioned, it's best to be proactive about this to avoid complications.

Thank you. I'm sorry about your dad as well. That's a good point about the funeral home - I'll check if they reported it. We've been overwhelmed with everything and might have missed that detail.

FRA varies based on birth year. For people born in 1943-1954, FRA is 66. For those born 1955-1959, it gradually increases. For people born in 1960 or later, FRA is 67. The "and 10 months" means she was born in a transition year where FRA is set at 67 years and 10 months. You can check your own FRA on the SSA website.

thats a really good tip!! wish id known that when i applied, would have saved me a lot of trouble

Did you try visiting your local SSA office in person? Sometimes that's more effective than phone calls, especially for complicated situations.

Exactly right. This is the Adjustment to the Reduction Factor (ARF). For every month benefits are completely withheld due to excess earnings, SSA adjusts your reduction factor when you reach FRA. It doesn't make up for the full amount withheld, but it does increase your monthly benefit permanently.