Social Security spousal benefits with WEP - what happens after Medicare costs at 68?

There are a few things to consider here. First, regarding WEP - it doesn't go away, it's a permanent reduction to your Social Security retirement benefit due to your TRS pension. However, if you have 30+ years of substantial earnings under Social Security (not just your teaching job), WEP might affect you less. Regarding spousal benefits - you should check if your spousal benefit would be higher than your own WEP-reduced benefit. As a spouse, you're eligible for up to 50% of your husband's Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), which would be his benefit amount at his Full Retirement Age before any reductions or increases. If your spousal benefit would be higher than your current $299, you could switch to that.

The whole WEP/GPO situation is SUCH A SCAM! I'm also a retired teacher and got totally blindsided by this when I applied for benefits. They took away almost 2/3 of what I should have gotten! And no, it NEVER goes away - they keep penalizing us forever just because we worked in public service instead of the private sector. It's complete discrimination against public servants. You should definitely check the spousal benefit option though - that might help a bit.

my sister had same problem with teacher retirement. she found out she could get more on her husbands record than her own with the WEP reduction. just call ssa and ask them to compare the amounts for you.

Based on what you've shared, here's what you need to know: 1. WEP is permanent - it doesn't expire or go away after a certain age 2. With only 15 years of substantial earnings, your WEP reduction is at or near the maximum 3. You should definitely compare your current benefit to a spousal benefit (50% of your husband's PIA) 4. Medicare premiums would still be deducted regardless of which benefit you receive To find out your husband's PIA and calculate your potential spousal benefit, you can: 1. Ask your husband to log into his my Social Security account online where his PIA should be listed 2. Contact SSA directly to request a benefit comparison If your spousal benefit would be higher, you can request to switch to that benefit instead of your own.

I had a similar issue with my teacher pension and WEP. After trying forever to get someone on the phone at Social Security, I finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an SSA agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. They have a video that shows how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU if you're interested. Saved me so much frustration! The agent was able to compare my own benefit with my spousal benefit and it turned out I was eligible for about $250 more per month as a spouse than on my own record with WEP reduction.

Wait u said ur husband gets $1280 after Medicare? Thats pretty low for someone who waited till 68, isnt it? Unless he didnt work much under SS either?

To directly answer your question about what to do: 1. Determine if your spousal benefit would be higher than your own benefit. The spousal benefit would be up to 50% of your husband's PIA (the amount he would have received at his FRA, before any reductions or increases). 2. If your husband's PIA is around $2,400 (estimating based on his current benefit), then your spousal benefit could be around $1,200 before Medicare premium deductions. 3. Since you're already receiving benefits on your own record, you would need to contact SSA to request a comparison and potentially file for the additional spousal benefit if it's higher. 4. Remember that GPO (Government Pension Offset) might reduce your spousal benefits by 2/3 of your teacher's pension amount, so you'll need to factor that in as well. The most accurate way to know your options is to speak directly with SSA.

i think you already did what you needed to do by appling at 66. thats your FRA right? so you get full benefits minus the WEP thing. but check the spousal like everyone says.

Has anyone actually had success getting SSA to do accurate calculations with WEP and spousal benefits? When I tried, I got three different answers from three different representatives! It was maddening!!! And they kept putting notes in my file that contradicted each other. I ended up having to go to my local office IN PERSON to finally get it straightened out.

One important point that hasn't been mentioned yet - if your husband's benefit is higher than yours even after the WEP reduction, you might want to consider survivor benefit planning. If he passes away before you, as his widow, you could receive his full benefit amount instead of your own (subject to GPO if applicable). This is something to factor into your long-term planning as well.

After using that service I mentioned to reach SSA, they explained to me that my husband's PIA was the key number I needed to know. Once I had that, I could calculate 50% of it and compare to my own benefit. Has your husband ever received a Social Security statement that might show his PIA? That could save you some time.