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

I had a similar situation 2 years ago. Bad health, income dropped, worried about SS calculation. What I found is that Social Security replaces more of your income if you're a lower earner (it's progressive). So the calculation isn't strictly proportional. Someone earning $30k doesn't get exactly half the benefit of someone earning $60k. The lower earner actually gets more than half.

After reading all this advice, what are you thinking you'll do? It's good to get different perspectives, but ultimately it's a personal decision based on your unique circumstances.

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!

i heard we're supposed to get ALL the money back not just some of it??? my neighbor said her financial guy told her it could be like $40k for some people who've been retired a long time with WEP

Thank you all for the helpful information! I'm going to wait until the bill actually passes before making any decisions. In the meantime, I'll try to get through to SSA using that Claimyr service someone mentioned to get official guidance on my specific situation. I've been losing sleep over potentially making the wrong decision, but I feel much better now understanding that I should be eligible for both the retroactive payment AND potentially switching to spousal benefits afterward.

Thank you all so much for this helpful information! I created my SSA account last night and was surprised to see that my own benefit estimate at 62 would be about $1,125/month. My ex's FRA benefit amount would be around $3,200 based on what he's told me, so 50% of that would be $1,600, reduced to around $1,080 if I claim at 62. So it seems like there's not a huge difference between my own record and ex-spouse benefits in my case. BUT, the earnings test would affect either one while I'm still working. Based on all your advice, I think I'm going to: 1. Postpone any marriage plans until I've spoken directly with SSA 2. Try that Claimyr service to actually get through to them 3. Consider working a few more years to increase my own benefit Thanks again - you've all been so helpful in explaining these confusing rules!

That sounds like an excellent plan! One last thing to consider: Since your own benefit at 62 ($1,125) is very close to what your ex-spouse benefit would be at 62 ($1,080), you might actually be better off claiming your own benefit and letting it grow. Reason: If you claim your own benefit at your Full Retirement Age instead of 62, it would be approximately 33% higher. But if you claim ex-spouse benefits at FRA instead of 62, you'd only get the flat 50% of his benefit. In your specific situation, maximizing your own benefit by waiting might be the best financial move regardless of marriage plans. Definitely discuss this with SSA when you reach them!