Social Security at 62 after WEP reduction from TRS pension - survivor benefits confusion

My condolances for your loss. Suvrivor benefits are what you get from your husbands record after he passed. I think you might be confusing spousal benefits (when both spouses alive) with survivor benefits. If your getting hit with GPO from your TRS pension, then yes your survivors are reduced. As for filing at 62 for your own vs FRA, it depends on which would be higher after reductions. Have you actually checked what your own SS benefit would be?

Your situation has several moving parts to consider: 1. Survivor benefits vs. your own benefits - these are separate entitlements. Survivor benefits come from your late husband's record, while your own retirement benefits are based on your earnings history. 2. Government Pension Offset (GPO) - This is reducing your survivor benefits by 2/3 of your TRS pension amount ($888 reduction). 3. Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) - This will likely reduce your own Social Security benefits if you're eligible for them. 4. Filing age options - For your own benefits, you can file as early as 62 (with a 30% reduction), at 65 (with about a 13.3% reduction), or wait until your Full Retirement Age of 67 for full benefits. The best strategy depends on the relative amounts. You should check your Social Security statement online at my.ssa.gov to see your estimated benefit amounts. In many cases with GPO/WEP situations, it makes sense to: - Continue receiving reduced survivor benefits now - Wait until 67 or even 70 to claim your own benefits if they'll be higher than your reduced survivor benefits Regarding the overpayment - unfortunately, SSA often creates overpayments in GPO situations even when you've provided all the information. You can request a payment plan if your waiver was denied.

KEEP YOUR SURVIVOR BENEFITS!!! Don't file for your own SS at 65!!! The SSA will NEVER tell you this, but here's what you should do: 1. Keep your reduced survivor benefits for now (even with GPO reduction) 2. Wait until 70 to file for your OWN benefits 3. At 70, SSA will automatically give you whichever is higher I went through something similar when my husband passed. I had a pension from teaching in California. The GPO is CRIMINAL but there's no way around it. But by waiting until 70 to claim my own benefits, I got 32% MORE than if I'd taken them at 67. That extra amount made up for some of the GPO reduction. Don't trust what SSA tells you - they don't explain all your options!!!

There's a lot of confusion in the responses you're getting. Let me clarify: 1. For those born in 1960, FRA for YOUR benefits is 67, and you'd get 70% of your PIA if filing at 62, 86.7% at 65, or 124% if waiting until 70. 2. The WEP will reduce your own benefits because you have a TRS pension and less than 30 years of "substantial earnings" under Social Security. 3. The GPO is already reducing your survivor benefits by 2/3 of your TRS pension amount. 4. When you file for your own benefits, you'll receive the HIGHER of either your own WEP-reduced benefit OR your GPO-reduced survivor benefit (not both). The chart you saw about filing at 62 might have been showing the break-even analysis for survivor benefits, which has different rules than your own benefits. First step: Create an account at my.ssa.gov and view your own benefit estimates. Second step: Call SSA and request a detailed WEP calculation so you know exactly what your own benefit would be after WEP reduction. This is complicated stuff and unfortunately the SSA phone reps often give incorrect information about WEP/GPO cases.

dont bother trying to understand GPO/WEP its rigged against public employees like us. my mom was a teacher in texas too and they took almost all her ss even though she paid in for years before teaching. its robbery!!

Update: I created my SSA account and looked at my benefit estimates. They're showing my own benefit at FRA (67) would be about $1,450 before any WEP reduction. My current survivor benefit after the GPO reduction is $1,320. I called SSA about the WEP calculation but couldn't get through after 45 minutes on hold. Does anyone know approximately how much WEP might reduce my own benefit? I worked in retail for about 15 years before teaching.

I've been following this thread because I'll be in a similar situation soon. One thing that hasn't been mentioned - if you decide to continue with survivor benefits and delay your own until 70, remember that survivor benefits don't increase after your FRA like your own benefits do. The survivor benefit maximum is reached at your FRA (which is slightly different for survivor benefits vs retirement benefits). Since you were born in 1960, your FRA for survivor benefits is 66 and 8 months. So there's no advantage to waiting beyond that age for survivor benefits, unlike your own retirement benefits which grow until 70. Have you received a clear explanation from SSA about why they created the overpayment? Sometimes they'll reduce the amount if you can show it wasn't your fault.

I just went through this EXACT sitution!!! The overpayment thing is SO frustrating. I retired from Florida schools with FRS pension and they hit me with a $4200 overpayment on my husbands survivor benefits. Heres what worked for me: I filed a "Request for Reconsideration" (not just a waiver) and specifically argued that I had reported my pension timely and accurately. I sent in proof of all my communications with SSA about the pension. It took 3 months but they eventually reversed 80% of the overpayment because they agreed their processing delay wasn't my fault. Don't just accept what they initially tell you! Also I found calling them impossible until I used a service called Claimyr that got me through to an agent in about 15 minutes. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU that shows how it works. After struggling for weeks to get anyone on the phone, it was a huge relief.

After reading through this whole discussion, here's what I recommend for your situation based on the information you've shared: 1. File a Request for Reconsideration for the overpayment as suggested above, not just a waiver. Focus on the fact you provided information timely. 2. Continue receiving your survivor benefits for now while you gather more information. 3. Get a detailed WEP calculation for your own benefits. This is crucial for making an informed decision. 4. Based on the estimates you shared: - Your survivor benefit after GPO: $1,320/month - Your own benefit at FRA before WEP: $1,450/month - Your own benefit at 70 before WEP: ~$1,798/month If your WEP reduction is more than $130/month (which is likely with 15 years of substantial earnings), then waiting until 70 to switch to your own benefits probably makes the most sense financially. This is a very common situation for Texas teachers with TRS pensions. The GPO and WEP reductions are significant, but proper planning can help maximize what you receive despite these penalties.