To clarify for everyone: YES, the earnings test applies to ALL Social Security benefits taken before FRA - retirement, spousal, and survivor benefits. The 2025 limit is $22,320 if you're under FRA the whole year. They withhold $1 in benefits for every $2 earned above that limit. For the original poster: Since you earned so little last year and presumably will earn a similar amount this year, this won't affect you. But the SSA needs to verify that with documentation, hence the Schedule C request. You should be able to call and explain you don't have the Schedule C yet. They may accept alternative documentation or place a note on your record. And yes, once approved, you'll receive retroactive benefits to your application date.

Just out of curiosity, have you considered waiting until your FRA to claim spousal benefits? The reduction for claiming early can be substantial - up to 35% less if you claim at 62 vs. FRA. Each year you wait, the monthly amount increases. Of course, there's the trade-off of getting smaller checks sooner versus larger checks later.

my wife filed dec 5 for jan benefits and got aproved jan 23 so like 7 weeks. but her sister filed same day and still waiting now. ssme office even. makes no sense how random it is

Update: I finally got through to SSA today after trying at exactly 8:00am! The agent said my application had a flag because I had worked in another state for a few years and they were waiting on wage verification. She removed the flag since it had been pending too long and said my benefits should be processed within 5-7 business days. She also confirmed I'll receive backpay for January and February. Thank you all for your advice and sharing your experiences!

Another important factor: if your wife had 30+ years of "substantial earnings" in SS-covered employment, the WEP wouldn't apply at all. With 21-29 years, there's a reduced penalty. At 15 years, she'll face a more significant reduction, but as others have mentioned, it's not the full $575 maximum WEP reduction. The SSA defines "substantial earnings" differently each year ($30,750 for 2025). Your wife should check her earnings record on MySocialSecurity to see how many qualifying years she has. Also worth noting: If her SS benefit is very low to begin with, she might actually do better filing for a spousal benefit based on your record (assuming you have one), even with the Government Pension Offset applied.

To answer your latest question - yes, she could potentially get a spousal benefit (up to 50% of your FRA benefit) if it's higher than her own WEP-reduced benefit. However, the GPO would reduce that spousal benefit by 2/3 of her government pension. Quick math: If your FRA benefit is $3,100, her potential spousal benefit would be $1,550. But if her government pension is $4,200, the GPO reduction would be $2,800 (2/3 of $4,200). Since $2,800 > $1,550, her spousal benefit would unfortunately be reduced to $0. This is why so many government workers with substantial pensions end up getting little to no spousal benefits. The system is designed to treat them similarly to other workers who pay fully into Social Security throughout their careers. For her own benefit, she should still run the WEP calculator on SSA.gov with her specific years of substantial earnings to get the most accurate estimate.

One thing nobody's mentioned is she should immediately report this job to SSA if she hasn't already. Not reporting work activity can lead to overpayments that she'll have to pay back later. Better to address this proactively than wait for them to find out during a review.

maybe she could ask the school if she can opt out of the retirement thing? some places let you do that especially for part time workers

i heard somewhere that wep and gpo might get eliminated soon has anyone else heard this?

One other thing to consider - if your husband plans to keep working until next April but is reaching FRA before then, make sure he understands the earnings limit doesn't apply once he reaches FRA. My husband didn't realize this and unnecessarily delayed filing for a few months thinking he'd be penalized for his income. Just wanted to mention that in case it's relevant to your situation!