Social Security spousal benefits with non-covered worker - can my husband claim on my record before I file at age 70?

Your husband probably qualifies for spousal benefits on your record, but there are three important things you need to understand: 1) Since your husband receives a pension from work not covered by Social Security, his spousal benefits will almost certainly be reduced by two-thirds of his government pension amount due to the Government Pension Offset (GPO). This could potentially eliminate his spousal benefit entirely if his pension is large enough. 2) He cannot receive spousal benefits until you file for your own retirement benefits. So if you're waiting until 70, he cannot receive spousal benefits before then. 3) Him receiving spousal benefits will NOT reduce your retirement benefits in any way. Your benefit amount is based solely on your own work record. I'd recommend making an appointment with SSA to get a precise calculation of how the GPO would affect his potential spousal benefit.

my mom was in SAME situation!!! husband worked for city government, never paid SS taxes. she waited till 70 to file and he got NOTHING from her record because of GPO. they take 2/3 of his pension away from whatever spousal benefit he would get, and in most cases that means zero $$$. sorry to be bearer of bad news but its how the system works. super unfair imo

You're dealing with the Government Pension Offset (GPO), not the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). These are commonly confused. WEP affects your OWN benefits if you have a non-covered pension. GPO affects SPOUSAL benefits if you have a non-covered pension. For your specific questions: 1) Yes, your husband technically qualifies for spousal benefits, but after GPO reduction, it might be zero 2) He MUST wait until you file at 70 3) His benefits will NOT reduce yours Here's what to do: Calculate 50% of your age 70 benefit. Then subtract 2/3 of his monthly pension. If the result is negative, he'll get nothing. If positive, that's his spousal benefit. Example: If your age 70 benefit will be $3,600/month, his spousal benefit would start at $1,800. If his pension is $3,000/month, the GPO reduction would be $2,000. Since $1,800 - $2,000 = -$200, he would receive no spousal benefit.

I went thru same thing last year!! So frustrating!!! Husband worked for railroad and i worked normal job. When we went to SS office they made us wait 3 HOURS and then told us nothing!!!! Had to come back next day with more papers. Complete waste of time.

The SS offices are terrible to deal with. My husband and I were in a similar situation (he had a state pension). After weeks of trying to get through on the phone and getting disconnected repeatedly, I finally found Claimyr (claimyr.com) and they got me connected to a real SSA agent in under 10 minutes. Their system calls SSA for you and when they reach an agent, they call you to connect. Saved me so much frustration! They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU if you want to see how it works. So much better than waiting on hold for hours or trying to get an in-person appointment.

One important point that hasn't been mentioned yet: The GPO only affects spousal benefits while both spouses are alive. If you pass away before your husband, survivor benefits work differently. While the GPO still applies to survivor benefits (reduced by 2/3 of his pension), the base amount would be 100% of your benefit instead of 50%. So if you're receiving $3,500 at age 70 and pass away, his starting point would be $3,500 before the GPO reduction, not $1,750. This means he might actually receive some survivor benefits even if he doesn't qualify for spousal benefits while you're both alive. This is one more reason to maximize your benefit by waiting until 70 - it could help him later through higher survivor benefits.

I don't know why they punish people like this!!! My friend's husband worked for 35 years but because it was for a state government that didn't participate in SS, he gets PENALIZED and can't get the same benefits as everyone else? The whole system is rigged. They take our money but don't want to pay it back. They should abolish GPO and WEP - there are bills in Congress to do this but they never pass them!!! Call your representatives!!

doesn't matter when you file, your husband probably gets $0 either way because of GPO. my dad's friend went through this and got nothing from his wife's SS.

Thank you all for the helpful information! I've decided to stick with my plan to file at 70 to maximize my benefit. Even though my husband probably won't get spousal benefits due to GPO, the survivor benefit possibility makes it worthwhile. Going to schedule an appointment with SSA to get exact calculations for our situation. Appreciate all the responses!