Confused about retirement vs survivor benefits at FRA - working and ex-spouse involved

First, I'm very sorry for your loss. You're dealing with a lot here. At your FRA, you *should* receive whichever is higher - your own retirement benefit or the survivor benefit from your late husband. The SSA is supposed to pay you the higher of the two automatically. Regarding your ex-spouse, you might be eligible for ex-spousal benefits (up to 50% of his FRA amount) if your marriage lasted at least 10 years. However, you'll still only get the highest of the three possible benefits (your own, survivor, or ex-spouse). The different estimates could be because they're calculating different scenarios or because information is being updated in the system. Working while receiving benefits at FRA won't reduce your benefits, which is good news.

OMG I went through almost the EXACT same thing last year!!! The SSA offices are a NIGHTMARE right now. I got 4 different benefit amounts from 4 different people. It took me MONTHS to get a straight answer. And then they miscalculated my Medicare premiums too! The whole system is broken!!!

The issue you're facing is common with concurrent applications. Here's what you need to know: 1. At FRA, you'll receive your own retirement benefit plus a partial survivor benefit if your survivor benefit is higher than your retirement (the difference between the two). 2. For ex-spouse benefits, file using form SSA-2 (Application for Wife's or Husband's Insurance Benefits). However, SSA should automatically check if an ex-spouse benefit would be higher when you apply for retirement. 3. To get an accurate benefit amount, request an in-person appointment at your local office and ask specifically for a "benefit calculation explanation" - they should provide a detailed breakdown. 4. Since you're at FRA, working won't reduce your benefits, so that's one less complication. 5. The appeals process for Medicare premium issues is separate from your benefit calculation, but it could be causing confusion in their system.

im not an expert but my sister went thru something similar last year. they kept giving her wrong numbers too. she said the online my social security account was useless for this stuff. have you tried calling the 800 number?

I had a similar issue getting through to SSA for my retirement benefit questions. After weeks of busy signals and disconnections, I found a service called Claimyr that got me through to a real SSA agent in under 10 minutes. They basically call SSA for you and connect you when they reach a real person. Saved me hours of frustration! You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU or their website claimyr.com. For your specific situation, you should ask the agent for a PEBES (Post Entitlement Benefit Explanation Statement). This document breaks down exactly how they calculated your benefits including any offsets between retirement and survivor benefits. Also request that they note in your file that you're requesting verification of all three potential benefits: your own retirement, survivor, and possible ex-spouse.

The real problem here is that u have 3 potential benefits - retirement, survivor, and divorced spouse. The computer systems at SSA don't handle this well. My advice - WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN when u talk to them. Get names and direct numbers if possible. And don't trust the My Social Security estimates for complicated cases like yours.

To directly answer your question about how to find out what your retirement will look like: 1. Request your earnings record from SSA to verify all your working years are correctly recorded 2. Ask specifically for a PEBES (as mentioned above) 3. If your ex-spouse's benefit might be higher, make sure to mention the marriage duration and that you want to know if you qualify for divorced spouse benefits 4. For the most accurate calculation, they need your late husband's benefit amount, your own earnings history, and your ex-husband's information Since you're at FRA, you can work and earn unlimited amounts without reduction to your benefits. The only potential impact would be on taxation of benefits if your combined income exceeds certain thresholds.

The SSA should be paying you the highest benefit you're entitled to automatically, but in my experience they DON'T always do this correctly!! You need to specifically ask them to compare ALL your potential benefits. And get it in writing!! Don't trust verbal answers - I learned that the hard way.

I recommend asking SSA for a "what-if" analysis showing all three scenarios (retirement only, survivor only, and with ex-spouse benefits). Specifically, you'll want to know: 1. Your PIA (Primary Insurance Amount) based on your own work record 2. The survivor benefit amount (which should be up to 100% of your late husband's benefit at your FRA) 3. The potential divorced spouse benefit (up to 50% of your ex's PIA) The good news is that at FRA, your work income won't cause any benefit reductions. You'll just need to consider potential tax implications if your combined income exceeds certain thresholds.