Does Social Security count pension and deferred comp as income for earnings limit? Plus ex-spouse survivor benefit confusion

The earnings limit only applies to wages or self-employment income. Pensions, annuities, investment income, interest, capital gains, and other government benefits do NOT count toward the earnings limit. Only actual work counts! I was in a similar situation. When I started collecting at 62, I was worried because I had a pension, 401k distributions, AND some part-time consulting income. SSA only cared about the consulting work income, not the other sources. For the death certificate issue, I recommend using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to a real SSA agent. I had a similar documentation problem that felt impossible to solve through normal channels. The Claimyr service got me through to a representative in about 15 minutes who explained that SSA can verify death information internally in many cases. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - it saved me hours of frustration.

Regarding the earnings test, only gross wages and net self-employment income count toward the annual limit. Your pension, deferred comp, and any potential survivor benefits are completely exempt from the earnings test calculation. However, you're correct that for determining Medicare IRMAA (Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount), your pension, deferred comp, Social Security, and practically all other income sources will count. For the death certificate issue, there's a workaround. Since your ex-husband was already receiving Social Security benefits when he passed, the SSA should already have his death recorded in their system. You need to specifically request to speak with a Claims Specialist who can access the Numident database, which contains death information. Explain that you're inquiring about potential survivor benefits as a divorced spouse married more than 10 years, and they should be able to verify his death internally. If you were married 19 years and never remarried, you definitely qualify for divorced spouse survivor benefits if they would be higher than your own retirement benefit.

just fyi the earnings limit for 2023 is $21,240, not $23,400. and for 2024 it's $22,320. so by 2025 it might be around $23,000-$24,000 based on yearly increases. they change it every year based on inflation

Going through a similar situation with my ex-spouse benefits. I was married for 22 years and trying to figure out if I should take my own benefits or my ex-husband's. I had to provide our marriage certificate AND divorce papers even though SSA already had both on file from when I applied for a replacement card years ago! They make everything so difficult! For the death certificate issue, try contacting your local Congressperson's office. My sister had a similar issue and her Congresswoman's staff helped resolve it in about a week. They have dedicated contacts at federal agencies like SSA.

I always thought pensions counted toward the earnings limit too! I've been working part time and keeping it under the limit because I thought my teacher's pension was already taking up most of my "allowance." Does anyone know if I can ask Social Security for the money they withheld based on this misunderstanding? Been retired for 3 years now...

for the death certificate problem, try calling the vital records office in NJ and explain your situation. sometimes they can make exceptions if you explain its for social security benefits. or you could ask one of his children to request it since they are definitely eligible to get copies

Update: I called SSA this morning and got disconnected twice after waiting over 45 minutes each time. On my third try I finally got through to someone who told me they CAN verify his death internally, but that I need to make an in-person appointment to discuss survivor benefits. The earliest appointment is in FEBRUARY 2025 - almost 3 months away! Unbelievable. She did confirm that neither my pension nor deferred comp count toward the earnings limit, so that's at least one question answered. Still trying to figure out if I should take my own benefit at 62 or wait and take ex-spouse survivor benefit...