Yes, you can and should report your estimated earnings to Social Security when you apply for benefits. They will ask for this information during the application process. If your earnings change later in the year, you can update your estimate by calling SSA or visiting an office. Regarding your husband's potential consulting work - remember that for self-employment, SSA counts net earnings (after business expenses) and when the income is received, not when the work was performed. So if he does work in December but doesn't get paid until January 2026, that counts toward 2026's earnings test, not 2025. Based on everything discussed here, it sounds like your best approach is to: 1. Delay applying until March entitlement/April payment to avoid the January/February monthly earnings test issues 2. Report estimated earnings when you apply 3. Track any consulting income carefully 4. Remember your tax refund won't affect benefits at all

my cousin had to deal with an overpayment last year and SS was a NIGHTMARE about it. took like 5 months to fix!! def better to just wait til ur totally done working b4 applying

Just to clarify one thing I didn't see mentioned - if your sister is considering claiming both her own retirement benefit and the survivor benefit from her ex, she needs to understand that there are different rules for each. She can claim survivor benefits as early as 60 (or 50 if disabled), but her own retirement she can't claim until 62. If she's dealing with cancer, the disability route might make more sense as others have suggested. Wishing her all the best with her health and benefits situation.

tell ur sister to be careful about when she files!!! if she's still getting short term disability and then gets SSDI and survivor benefits she might end up owing money back to somebody. my friend got a huge overpayment notice from SS because her disability insurance didn't tell her they were offsetting for SSDI

Just to add one more clarification: Multiple eligible survivors can receive benefits based on one worker's record simultaneously. So theoretically, if both your ex-wives were eligible for survivor benefits (if marriages lasted 10+ years and they never remarried before 60), AND your current wife becomes eligible in the future, all three could potentially receive benefits on your record. The benefits of one don't reduce or affect the others. This is why there's no need for any kind of "removal" process - the system is designed to handle multiple eligible survivors.

my grandma got remarried after my grandpa died and she still gets his ss payment every month! shes 82 now. the SSA doesn't care about ur previous marriages they just look at if u qualify now based on age and stuff

wait i'm confused about something... you said you're making $17k through mid-april but then you said $22,500? which is it? the amount matters for the earnings test right?

One more important detail: make sure you apply for benefits 2-3 months before you want them to begin. While you can apply up to 4 months in advance, I recommend applying no later than February if you want April benefits. This gives SSA enough processing time to ensure your May payment arrives on schedule. And regarding the earnings limit - keep very careful records of all your work income after retirement. If you do pick up part-time work, report any changes to SSA promptly to avoid overpayment issues later. The monthly earnings test is actually designed to help people in your exact situation who have high earnings before retirement and limited earnings after.

they never tell u about WEP until its to late!! i worked 18 years government and 22 years private and still got hit with WEP!! the whole thing is a SCAM!!!

To summarize for your father's situation: 1. Yes, he must earn $31,275 in 2025 for it to count as a year of substantial earnings 2. Working part-time at $25,000 won't help reduce the WEP penalty 3. Each year of substantial earnings over 20 reduces the WEP penalty by 5% 4. Age doesn't matter - substantial earnings count the same whether you're 25 or 75 5. Check his earnings record carefully - he might have more years of substantial earnings than he realizes 6. Look into the WEP guarantee provision if his government pension is small If he can increase his hours to reach $31,275 this year, it would definitely help reduce the WEP impact on his benefits.