Can I collect Social Security at 63 while still working as a Texas educator?

Yes, he can apply for Social Security retirement benefits at 63 while still working as an educator. However, there are several important factors to consider: 1. Since he's below his Full Retirement Age (likely 67), he'll face a permanent reduction in benefits - approximately 20-25% less than his full benefit amount. 2. The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) will likely reduce his Social Security benefit because he receives a pension from work not covered by Social Security (Texas teacher pensions). This reduction can be substantial. 3. The earnings limit applies until he reaches Full Retirement Age. For 2025, if he earns over $22,600, SSA will withhold $1 for every $2 he earns above that limit. This could temporarily reduce or eliminate his monthly payments. 4. Taking Social Security now won't affect his teacher's pension amount, but his teacher's pension will affect his Social Security benefit through WEP. I'd recommend he create a my Social Security account and use the calculators there to estimate his benefit with WEP applied.

my wifes a teacher in TX too and we went thru this whole mess last year. the wep thing is a total SCAM if you ask me!! she worked 15 yrs in retail before teaching and paid into SS but now gets like $780 instead of the $1450 she shouldve gotten. tell your husband to be careful because they dont explain this stuff when you apply!!

I'm in almost the exact same situation as your husband. I'm 64, teaching in Texas with 27 years in, and had about 45 quarters from my previous career. I applied for Social Security last year while still teaching. Here's what happened: I qualified for about $1,860 monthly based on my previous work, but after WEP it was reduced to about $1,240. Then, because I earn about $72,000 teaching, almost all my payments are currently being withheld due to the earnings limit. BUT - and this is important - I'm still glad I applied. Even though I'm not receiving much now, I'll get all those withheld benefits back in a lump sum when I reach Full Retirement Age. It's like forced savings. And once I hit FRA, I'll get my benefits regardless of how much I earn teaching. The WEP reduction is permanent though - that never goes away.

Just want to mention, if he has 30+ years of "substantial earnings" under Social Security, WEP might not apply at all. Worth checking his SS statement to see exactly how many years he had substantial covered earnings.

I dealt with this same issue when applying for SS while working as a teacher. The phone wait times to speak with someone knowledgeable about WEP and GPO were insane - I spent weeks trying to get through. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an agent in about 15 minutes instead of waiting for hours or days. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. Completely worth it to speak with someone who could calculate exactly how WEP would affect my specific situation. The rep was able to run different scenarios showing what I'd get if I applied now versus waiting until FRA.

my brother tried to do this last year and it was a NIGHTMARE!!! the ssa people kept telling him different things every time he called. first they said he could get full benefits while teaching then they said no hed get nothing cause of earnings limit. ended up waiting til he quit teaching. the whole systems rigged against educators imho

One strategy your husband might consider: if he's planning to continue working for several more years, he could file a restricted application for benefits now, but then immediately suspend them until he reaches Full Retirement Age. This accomplishes two things: 1. He "locks in" his filing date for purposes of spousal benefits if that's relevant to your situation. 2. He avoids both the earnings test withholding and earns delayed retirement credits of 8% per year from age 63 to his FRA. The WEP reduction will still apply regardless of when he starts receiving benefits. And be aware that if he has substantial earnings from teaching (which it sounds like he does), he may also be subject to the Government Pension Offset (GPO) if he ever tries to collect spousal or survivor benefits on your record.

btw has he checked if hes vested in the texas teacher retirement system yet?? that matters too with the whole calculation

One more thing based on my experience - make sure your husband creates his my Social Security account and checks his earnings record BEFORE applying. I found several years of my private sector work missing from my record, which would have significantly lowered my benefit. Had to track down old W-2s from the 1990s to prove those earnings. Total headache but added about $180/month to my benefit after fixing it.

Final thought - this is complicated enough that it might be worth consulting with a financial advisor who specializes in federal benefits and teacher pensions. The interaction between WEP, GPO, earnings limits, and Texas TRS has significant financial implications. While it costs money for the consultation, it could prevent costly mistakes. The SSA representatives try their best, but they don't always understand the nuances of teacher pensions in specific states. A specialized advisor might save you much more than they cost.

As someone who works in benefits administration, I want to emphasize something that hasn't been mentioned yet - the timing of when your husband actually starts receiving his teacher pension matters for WEP calculations. If he's planning to work several more years before retiring from teaching, he might want to consider delaying his Social Security application until closer to when he'll actually start drawing his TRS pension. The WEP reduction is based on receiving a pension from non-covered employment, not just being eligible for one. Also, Texas teachers have another consideration - if he's thinking about doing substitute teaching or part-time work after "retiring" from his full-time position, that continued TRS-covered employment could affect both his teacher pension and Social Security timing strategies. The Rule of 80 in Texas TRS (age + years of service = 80) might also factor into his decision timeline. At 63 with 25 years, he's got 88 points, so he could retire with full TRS benefits now if he wanted to, which opens up different strategic options. Definitely worth mapping out a few different scenarios with exact timelines before making the Social Security filing decision.

Just wanted to add another perspective as someone who went through this decision process recently. Your husband's situation sounds very similar to mine - I'm 62 with 23 years in Texas education and prior private sector work. One thing I learned that might help: the Social Security Administration has a WEP calculator on their website that can give you a rough estimate of how much the reduction would be. It's not perfect, but it helped me understand the financial impact better than trying to guess. Also, regarding the earnings limit - those withheld benefits do get paid back to you in a lump sum when you reach FRA, but there's no interest earned on that money. So you're essentially giving the government an interest-free loan for several years. That factored into my decision to wait. One more consideration: if your husband is planning to work past his FRA anyway, he might benefit from waiting until then to file. Not only would he avoid the earnings limit entirely, but he'd also get his full (albeit WEP-reduced) benefit amount instead of the early filing reduction on top of WEP. The Texas TRS pension won't be affected by when he takes Social Security, so that's one less thing to worry about. But definitely get that earnings record checked - I found two missing years that would have cost me about $150/month.

I've been following this discussion as a newcomer and wanted to share something that might be helpful. My father-in-law was in a very similar situation - Texas educator with prior private sector work, trying to decide about Social Security timing. One resource that really helped us was the AARP Social Security Calculator, which specifically accounts for WEP reductions and can model different filing scenarios. It's more user-friendly than the SSA calculator and helped us visualize the long-term financial impact of filing early versus waiting. Also, since your husband qualifies under the Rule of 80, you might want to consider this strategy: he could retire from teaching now (or soon), start his TRS pension, then work part-time in the private sector while collecting Social Security. This would avoid the earnings limit issues since TRS pension income doesn't count toward the SS earnings limit - only wages from current employment do. The key insight we learned is that once you're receiving the teacher pension, the WEP reduction is locked in regardless, so the timing becomes more about optimizing the Social Security side of things rather than trying to avoid WEP entirely. Just another angle to consider in your planning!