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If I could give 10 stars I would
If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
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Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
Worth not wasting your time calling for hours.
Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
An incredibly helpful service
An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
Consistent,frustration free, quality Service.
Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
IT WORKS!! Not a scam!
I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
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@casual_commenter - Yes, Claimyr absolutely works. My call was connected to SSA in under 15 minutes after trying for days on my own. Saved my sanity during my disability application process.
thx ill try it. need to talk to someone about my application status and im tired of waiting
@OP - Regarding your question about your Quebec marriage certificate being in French and English: The English portion should be sufficient for SSA purposes. However, if the certificate is predominantly in French with just some English elements, having a certified translation ready might save time. SSA may accept it as is, but they could request a translation if they have difficulty verifying details. Also, since your wife worked in a non-covered position (teacher's aide in a district not participating in Social Security), she may be subject to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) or Government Pension Offset (GPO) if she receives a pension from that employment. This could affect both her own benefits and any spousal benefits. Be sure to mention this when applying.
I didn't even consider the WEP/GPO implications! Her pension is very small (about $750/month) but we should definitely get clear on how that affects potential spousal benefits. Thank you for mentioning this - it's exactly why I'm glad I asked here before applying.
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whats ur pension monthly amount? The GPO reduction is 2/3 of that amount gets taken from ur spousal benefit. So if ur pension is $3000/month, they'll reduce ur spousal benefit by $2000. If ur spousal benefit would be $1500, you'd only get about $0 after GPO. A lot of teachers find out they get nothing after GPO is applied.
My pension is about $4,250 monthly, so 2/3 of that would be around $2,833. I'm not even sure what my potential spousal benefit would be based on my husband's record, but I'm guessing it might be less than the offset amount, which means I'd get nothing? This whole system seems designed to penalize teachers and other public servants.
For your actual application process with GPO, here's what to have ready: 1. Your government pension award letter showing monthly amount 2. Dates of all government employment where you didn't pay into Social Security 3. Any W-2s or earnings records from jobs where you DID pay into Social Security 4. Your marriage certificate 5. Your husband's Social Security number With your FRA in August 2025, I'd apply in early May 2025. This gives them 3 months to process while avoiding any early filing reductions. GPO is complicated enough without adding early filing reductions to the mix!
Thank you for this detailed list! I'll start gathering these documents now so I have everything ready when it's time to apply. Do you know if they need the original marriage certificate or if a certified copy is acceptable?
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I'm just here to say DON'T TRUST the breakeven calculators out there!!! They're all based on a bunch of assumptions that probably don't apply to YOUR specific situation! They don't account for investment returns if you took early benefits and invested them, they don't account for inflation properly, and they COMPLETELY IGNORE the emotional value of reducing your stress NOW rather than later!!! If your job is making you miserable and you have other income sources, claiming early might be the right choice FOR YOU regardless of what the math says about some theoretical future that might never happen!
Fair point about the emotional value - that's hard to quantify. But the SSA calculators do account for cost of living adjustments. And if someone is disciplined enough to actually invest the early benefits rather than spending them, that's great, but most people don't do that in reality.
Thank you all for the helpful responses! I've decided to set up an appointment with SSA to get exact benefit estimates for both my own record and ex-spousal benefits at different ages. I'm also going to talk with my employer about possibly reducing to part-time hours - that might be the perfect compromise to reduce stress while still maximizing my SS benefits. I appreciate all the different perspectives here. This is exactly the kind of thoughtful discussion I was hoping for when I posted my question.
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Just want to point out that SSDI conversion to survivor benefits is also important here. When a person is receiving SSDI and passes away, the survivor benefit calculation is a bit different than standard survivor benefits. The benefit is based on the SSDI payment amount, but there can be adjustments for the deceased's early claiming. Make sure the SSA rep understands your wife was on SSDI when calculating your survivor amount.
That's a really good point that I hadn't considered. I know she had only been receiving SSDI for about 9 months before she passed. Does that affect the calculation compared to if she had been on SSDI for years?
The length of time she received SSDI doesn't matter for the calculation. What matters is that SSA will calculate your survivor benefit based on 100% of her Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), which is the amount she would have received at her full retirement age. Since she was receiving SSDI, that's essentially what she was already getting (SSDI pays at the FRA rate regardless of age). Then that amount would be reduced based on YOUR age when YOU claim survivor benefits.
IMPORTANT!!!! Did either of those SSA reps actually RUN THE NUMBERS for your specific situation???? Or were they just telling you general rules? Because without running your actual earnings record through their system, they might be GUESSING about which strategy is better for you!!!
You know what, they didn't! They were speaking in generalities. Should I specifically ask them to run calculations for both scenarios when I go back? Is that something they can do?
Yes, absolutely ask them to run the numbers for your specific case. A good Claims Specialist can show you the exact dollar amount you would receive under different claiming scenarios. Make sure they show you: 1. Survivor benefit amount if claimed now at 65 2. Your own retirement benefit if claimed now at 65 3. Your own retirement benefit at your FRA (66+8mo) Seeing these specific numbers will make the best strategy clear and give you documentation to refer to.
Fidel Carson
Update: I should have mentioned that for self-employment income specifically, there's a lag time because the SSA doesn't receive your earnings information until after you file your tax return. If you filed extensions, this could delay the AERO process. For complicated cases like yours with both WEP and ongoing self-employment, it's best to speak directly with a Technical Expert (TE) at SSA, not just a regular claims representative. When you call, specifically request to speak with a TE who specializes in WEP calculations.
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Ana Rusula
•That's a great tip! I did file an extension this year, so that probably explains part of the delay. I'll specifically ask for a Technical Expert when I call.
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Fiona Gallagher
IMPORTANT QUESTION: Are you also subject to GPO (Government Pension Offset)? That's different from WEP and applies to spouse/survivor benefits. The combination of WEP and GPO can be really complex. Just making sure you're aware of both if they apply to your situation.
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Ana Rusula
•Thankfully no - I'm not eligible for any spousal benefits so GPO doesn't apply in my case. But you're right that the combination would make things even more complicated!
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