To directly answer your question: Yes, your wife will continue to receive auxiliary benefits as the mother of a minor child when you switch from retirement to SSDI. And yes, her payment will likely increase, though not necessarily by the same percentage as your increase. The technical explanation: When you switch to SSDI, two things happen that affect family benefits: 1. Your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) increases because SSDI doesn't apply the reduction factor for early retirement 2. The Family Maximum Benefit (FMB) is calculated differently under SSDI rules than under retirement rules Generally, the family maximum for SSDI is 150% of your PIA for a disabled worker and one or more auxiliaries. This means if your benefit increases by $675, your wife's benefit might increase by about $337 (assuming you're not already at the family maximum). As others have mentioned, watch for potential disruptions during the transition period. SSA may need to recalculate and adjust payments, which sometimes causes temporary payment issues.

One more thing to think about - when your son turns 16, your wife's benefits will stop until she turns 62 unless she's disabled herself. that surprised us!

One important correction to my earlier response: When I mentioned that you'd likely receive about $3,200 in survivor benefits based on your husband's record, that assumes he would have reached his full retirement age. If he passes before reaching his FRA, the survivor benefit would be reduced. Also, regarding returning to work: The 2025 SGA limit is $1,550/month for non-blind individuals as another commenter mentioned. However, there are work incentives like Impairment-Related Work Expenses (IRWE) that might help you deduct certain costs related to your disability from your earnings calculation. Given your specific situation with rheumatoid arthritis and potential return to work, I would strongly recommend scheduling an appointment with an SSA Claims Specialist to discuss your options in detail. These consultations are free and can help you make the best decisions for your situation.

btw when u do get thru to SSA make sure u ask for an APPOINTMENT with a claims specialist dont just talk to whoever answers, the regular phone ppl just read from scripts and give wrong info half the time

Update: We submitted the SSA-521 form yesterday! Thank you everyone for your advice. The rep we spoke with initially tried to tell us we couldn't withdraw after FRA, but we politely asked to speak with a technical expert and showed them the regulation numbers that were mentioned here. The technical expert confirmed we're within our rights to withdraw within the 12-month window regardless of FRA status. Now we're just waiting for the repayment letter so we know exactly how much to send back. I'll update again once everything is processed!

Good job being persistent! That's exactly the right approach - politely escalate when you know the rules. Please do update us on how it goes. Make sure to keep copies of EVERYTHING, including certified mail receipts if you mail the payment.

Something important to remember about Social Security benefits - they're recalculated annually for COLA (Cost of Living Adjustments). For 2025, the COLA will likely be around 2.5-3.0% based on current inflation trends. This means both of your benefits will increase automatically each year. While your benefit structure is already optimized based on what everyone has explained, you'll still see those yearly increases that help (somewhat) with rising costs.

My parents had similar ages to you guys! Dad was much older than mom too. When he passed at 92, mom did get his higher benefit as a survivor. But in your case it sounds like you'd just keep your own since it's higher anyway. The SS rules are so confusing sometimes! Glad you asked about this.

To your original question - you're absolutely right that you need 40 quarters (10 years) of Social Security-covered employment to qualify for retirement benefits. If you're at 22 quarters now, you'd need 18 more, which means about 4.5 more years of work where you pay into Social Security. If you do get those 40 quarters and qualify, your benefit would still be reduced by WEP because of your state pension. The reduction is most severe if you have under 20 years of substantial earnings. Each year of substantial earnings you have between 20-30 years reduces the WEP penalty gradually. Since you said you have 23 years in state government, I'm assuming most or all of that was non-covered employment (not paying into Social Security). So you'd need to figure out how many years of substantial earnings under Social Security you actually have.

Something else to consider - even if you get your 40 quarters and qualify for Social Security retirement benefits (reduced by WEP), you should also check if the Government Pension Offset (GPO) might affect any potential spousal or survivor benefits you might be eligible for. GPO is separate from WEP and reduces spousal/survivor benefits by 2/3 of your government pension amount. These provisions can be quite complex, so it might be worth consulting with a financial advisor who specializes in federal benefits before finalizing your retirement plans. The SSA's WEP calculator can also help you estimate the impact: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/anyPiaWepjs04.html