My sister went through this and just didn't report some of her cash jobs. Just saying...

Based on your description, you may want to consider whether your husband qualifies for the Retirement Earnings Test (RET) exemption if he's in certain situations: 1. If he's truly retiring (reducing hours and earnings significantly) 2. If he's self-employed and will perform minimal services There's also a special rule when calculating benefits if he's truly stopping substantial work mid-year. In that case, regardless of annual earnings, he can receive full benefits for months where he earns under the monthly limit ($1,930 in 2025) AND doesn't perform substantial services in self-employment. I suggest scheduling an appointment with SSA to discuss these special rules, as they might apply to your husband's seasonal work situation.

SSA rules are confusing!!! My aunt thought she would get both benefits too but ended up with just the higher one. Something about "dual entitlement" that the rep explained but I don't really understand all the details.

Thank you everyone for all the helpful information! I'm going to look into that strategy of delaying my benefits until 70 to maximize what my wife would get as a survivor. I had no idea about these rules, and I'm glad I asked before we made our claiming decisions.

One more critical piece of advice: Request a "Technical Expert Review" specifically. These are SSA employees with specialized knowledge of complex provisions like WEP/GPO. The regular claims representatives often make mistakes with these rules. Also, if your mother's teaching service was after 1957, SSA should have records of her Social Security covered earnings from those years. Request her complete earnings record (SSA-7004) which might help prove her case. If the reconsideration is denied, you have 60 days to file for a hearing with an Administrative Law Judge. The success rate is much higher at this level because ALJs are more familiar with the nuances of these provisions.

my uncle had something like this happen he said just keep calling every week for a status update or theyll forget about your case lol. the squeaky wheel gets the grease with these govt agencies

To respond to your follow-up question - yes, you should contact SSA when your husband files for his benefits. There's no automatic notification system, so you'll need to either: 1. Ask your children to let you know when he mentions filing for Social Security 2. Contact SSA periodically starting around his 62nd birthday to check his filing status 3. Wait until he reaches his Full Retirement Age (probably 67 for someone who's 60 now) when he's more likely to file And you're correct that from a purely Social Security benefits perspective, there's no financial advantage or disadvantage to getting divorced at this point. The benefits calculation would be identical either way since you were married well over 10 years. The only practical difference is the documentation process - as a current spouse, the connection is already established in SSA's system, while as a divorced spouse, you would need to provide marriage and divorce documentation.

u know what tho, if ur husband is making good money maybe talkin to a lawyer bout a divorce and some spousal support might actually be worth it. just because ur separated dont mean ur not entitled to a share of his current income in some states. might be worth checkin on, just sayin

im pretty sure u made the right choice. My cousin did somethin similar and his checks got bigger when he turned 70. The SS people sometimes don't know there own rules lol

Just to add one more technical detail - the DRC rate is 2/3 of 1% per month, which works out to 8% per year for each full year you delay. So in the original poster's case, if they suspend from age 68 to 70, they'd get approximately 16% increase from the DRCs earned during suspension (plus any COLAs that occur during that period). Also important: while benefits are suspended, any benefits payable to others on your record (like spousal benefits) are also suspended, except for divorced spouse benefits. Make sure that doesn't impact your situation.