Confused about Social Security spousal benefits application - is pension considered 'wages' in 2025?
I'm in the middle of applying for Social Security spousal benefits and I'm stuck on what seems like a simple question. When they ask for 'wages paid' for 2025, I'm not sure if I should include my teacher's pension. It shows up as income on our tax returns, but technically it's not 'wages' for work I did this year. I do have about $850 in self-employment income that I know I need to report. Just worried about answering incorrectly and delaying my application. Has anyone dealt with this before? The application doesn't explain what counts as 'wages' very clearly!
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Dylan Campbell
No, your teacher's pension is NOT considered wages for Social Security purposes. Only include the $850 self-employment income. Pensions are considered unearned income, similar to investment returns. They're taxable income for IRS purposes but not earnings for Social Security purposes. The question is specifically asking about FICA-taxable wages or self-employment income earned in 2025.
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StarStrider
•Thank you! That makes sense. I was overthinking it because they're both on my tax forms. So just the self-employment income then. Appreciate the clarification!
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Sofia Torres
i got confused about this too lol. pension is retirement income not wages. social security only cares about actual work wages that you paid FICA taxes on (or would pay FICA on for self employment). they use this for the earnings test if youre under FRA
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StarStrider
•Thanks! That helps. I'm 63 so I'm definitely under FRA - that must be why they're asking. Glad I checked before submitting incorrect info.
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Dmitry Sokolov
Wait wait wait. Are you getting WEP reduction because of your teacher pension? You might want to check if this affects your spousal benefits! My husband's firefighter pension caused all kinds of complications with his Social Security. The pension offset provision (either WEP or GPO) might apply to you!!! Have you looked into this???
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StarStrider
•Oh no, I haven't considered that. I worked 18 years as a teacher in California where we didn't pay into Social Security. Are you saying this might reduce my spousal benefits? Now I'm worried.
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Ava Martinez
•The previous commenter is referring to the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which can reduce spousal benefits if you receive a pension from work not covered by Social Security. Generally, your Social Security spousal benefit will be reduced by two-thirds of your government pension. This is separate from the wages question on your application, but very important to understand before applying for spousal benefits. The wages question is only about current earnings for the earnings test as others mentioned.
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Miguel Ramos
I spent THREE HOURS on hold with Social Security last month trying to get an answer about pension reporting on my application. When I finally got through, the rep gave me conflicting information from what I'd been told before. Absolutely maddening!!! I tried using Claimyr (claimyr.com) after that and got through to SSA in under 10 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - saved me hours of frustration. The agent I spoke with confirmed that pension income is NOT counted as wages for the application. Only actual wages or self-employment count.
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QuantumQuasar
•thanks for sharing that service! i've been trying to reach someone at ssa for weeks with no luck. just watched the video - looks pretty straightforward!
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StarStrider
•Thank you for the suggestion! With all this GPO information I just learned about, I definitely need to speak with someone at SSA directly. Three hours on hold sounds awful.
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Zainab Omar
Just want to add that in addition to not counting your pension as wages, you should be aware of the earnings test if you're under full retirement age. Since you mentioned having some self-employment income, if you earn over $21,240 in 2025 while collecting benefits before your FRA, SSA will withhold $1 for every $2 you earn above that limit. Just something to keep in mind!
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StarStrider
•Thank you for mentioning this. My $850 self-employment is well under that limit, so I should be fine there. It's the GPO issue that has me worried now.
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QuantumQuasar
my mom went through this exact same thing! pension confused her too. she just put her craft fair income ($1200) as wages and left the pension out completely. application went through fine 👍
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Dmitry Sokolov
The whole system is SO CONFUSING! Why can't they just make the questions clear??? I remember when I applied last year, I wrote down all my income sources and the SSA person had to correct everything. They really expect us to understand all these technical distinctions between different types of income without explaining anything clearly. And then they wonder why people make mistakes on applications!
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Sofia Torres
•so true!! ssa forms are the worst. and the website isn't much better lol
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Ava Martinez
To summarize what everyone's discussed: 1. Your teacher's pension is NOT considered wages for the SSA application 2. Only include the $850 self-employment income as wages 3. Be aware of the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which will likely reduce your spousal benefits by 2/3 of your pension amount 4. Since you're under FRA (63), the earnings test applies, but your self-employment income is well below the threshold I'd recommend scheduling an appointment with SSA to discuss the GPO impact specifically before finalizing your application. They can calculate the exact reduction to your spousal benefit.
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StarStrider
•Thank you for this clear summary! I'll definitely make an appointment to discuss the GPO. I had no idea my teacher's pension would affect my spousal benefits. Glad I asked here before submitting my application.
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Sofia Torres
when is your birthday? if your turning 64 soon maybe wait? the earnings limit goes up when you hit your FRA year
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StarStrider
•I'm turning 64 in November, but my husband is 67 and already collecting his benefits. From what I understand, I can apply for spousal benefits now, I'll just get a reduced amount because I'm not at my FRA yet. But now with this GPO issue, I definitely need professional advice.
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