WEP repeal confusion - should husband apply for spousal SS benefits now or wait?

This is a great question that affects many people with the WEP repeal. Your husband should NOT apply for spousal benefits yet. When the WEP repeal is fully implemented, SSA will automatically recalculate his benefit without the WEP reduction. At that point, if 50% of your PIA (Primary Insurance Amount) is higher than his new benefit, he can apply for the spousal benefit then. Applying now would essentially lock in his current situation, which isn't what you want. The WEP repeal implementation will take time - SSA hasn't even announced the exact timeline yet. Best to wait until his benefit is recalculated, then make the spousal benefit decision based on those new numbers.

I was in almost the exact same situation last year, except it was my wife who had the WEP reduction from teaching for 22 years. What we learned after HOURS of trying to get through to SSA is that the system doesn't automatically compare and give you the higher benefit - you have to specifically apply for spousal benefits. Since your husband hasn't applied for any benefits yet, he should definitely wait until the WEP recalculation happens. That way he'll know exactly what his options are. The Social Security people told us it could take up to 9 months for them to implement all the WEP repeal changes and recalculate everyone's benefits. I found a solution for reaching SSA after getting disconnected 14 times in two weeks - I used this service called Claimyr that got me through to an agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting for hours. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. It saved me so much frustration and the agent I spoke with was actually really helpful with our WEP questions.

Your husband is ALREADY receiving his own benefit (the $1,375), right? If so, that's different from what the first response assumed. When the WEP repeal happens, SSA will automatically recalculate his current benefit and increase it accordingly. He wouldn't be "applying" for his own benefit again. The spousal benefit question is separate. If after his WEP adjustment, his benefit is still less than half of yours, he should then file for spousal benefits to get the difference. SSA won't automatically do this - he needs to apply. Hope that helps!

my husband went thru the same thing with wep but it was with his pension from railroad. ss didnt tell us ANYTHING about applying for spousal we found out 2 years later we missed out on almost $8000!!!!! dont trust them to figure it out for you!!!!

I'm a bit concerned about some of the advice here. The WEP repeal is being phased in gradually over several years, not all at once. Your husband's benefit will increase slightly each year until 2031 when WEP is fully repealed. Each year as his benefit increases slightly, you'll want to compare it to what he would get as a spouse (50% of your PIA). Once the spousal amount becomes higher, that's when he should apply for spousal benefits. Two important things to keep in mind: 1. He can only get spousal benefits OR his own benefit, not both 2. The calculations can get complicated because of the phase-in period I would recommend scheduling an appointment with your local SSA office for personalized advice about exactly when he should apply for spousal benefits based on the year-by-year increases in his own benefit.

Wait I thought the whole WEP repeal thing didn't pass?? My father in law was telling me Congress was talking about it but nothing actually happened. Are you sure its actually repealed?

Since several people have pointed out that the WEP repeal hasn't actually happened yet, your husband's current situation remains unchanged. His benefit is still reduced by WEP, and if that amount ($1,375) is higher than half of your PIA at your FRA, then he wouldn't qualify for spousal benefits at this time.