Will SS Fairness Act help me qualify with 33 quarters + 10 years of uncovered teaching service?

I just went through this exact mess trying to figure out my benefits after teaching for 22 years! The Social Security Fairness Act doesn't actually give you credit for those non-covered teaching years toward your 40 quarters. What it does is eliminate (or reduce) the WEP and GPO penalties that reduce benefits for people who worked in non-covered positions. If you have 33 quarters, you need 7 more to qualify for benefits on your own record (40 quarters total). Medicare credits don't count toward SS eligibility unfortunately. As for your husband, under current rules, any spousal benefits he might receive would be reduced or eliminated by his government pension (that's the Government Pension Offset). But if the Fairness Act passes in its current form, that reduction would go away and he could receive full spousal benefits based on your record - as long as you qualify for your own benefits first. I was so frustrated trying to reach someone at SSA to explain this that I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to a real person. Their video demo (https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU) shows how it works - basically got me past the endless hold times. The agent I spoke with cleared everything up for me.

The Social Security Fairness Act has been proposed multiple times but hasn't been passed yet. The versions currently in Congress would eliminate both the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), but it won't give you credit for quarters where you didn't pay into Social Security. Your calculation about the 35 years is correct though - Social Security uses your highest 35 years of earnings to calculate your benefit. If you have fewer than 35 years of covered earnings, they use zeros for the missing years, which lowers your benefit amount. Regarding your husband: If the Fairness Act passes, he would potentially be eligible for spousal benefits (up to 50% of your full retirement age benefit) without reduction from GPO. Currently, his government pension would reduce or eliminate any spousal benefits. Just to clarify one point - you need 40 quarters (10 years) where you PAID INTO Social Security to qualify for retirement benefits. Medicare credits alone don't count toward SS eligibility.

My husband had the exact same situation! He taught for years in Texas (no SS contributions) then worked part time after retiring. He had to keep working until he got all 40 quarters. The Medicare quarters don't count for SS eligibility, sorry to say.

The rules on this stuff are SO confusing!! I thought if you had any SS credits at all you could get something. Why does the government make this so complicated???

I HATE the WEP and GPO!!!! I worked as a teacher for 25 years and also worked enough to qualify for Social Security but my SS benefit got slashed by almost 60% because of WEP. It's HIGHWAY ROBBERY that they can take away benefits I EARNED!!!! And my husband passed away last year and I should be getting his survivor benefits but the GPO reduced them to ZERO because of my teacher pension. How is that fair???? I've been calling my representatives EVERY WEEK demanding they pass the Fairness Act. Everyone affected should be doing the same!!

why dont u just get a part time job for like a year or so? thats what my aunt did, she worked at walmart like 2 days a week for a year and got her quarters. way easier than waiting for congress to do something lol

Just wanted to add something important about your husband's situation - even without the Fairness Act passing, if he has 30 quarters of covered employment, he might not be fully subject to the WEP reduction on his own record. There's a WEP guarantee that if you have 30+ years of substantial earnings under Social Security, the WEP doesn't apply. For fewer years, there's a partial exemption starting at 21 years. However, the GPO (affecting spousal/survivor benefits) doesn't have a similar exemption based on years of work, which is why the Fairness Act is so important for people like your husband who might be looking at spousal benefits.

I'm in a very similar situation and have been researching this extensively! One thing I learned that might help you is that you can check your Social Security Statement online at ssa.gov to see exactly how many quarters you have credited and what your estimated benefit would be. It'll also show which years had earnings that count toward SS. For the benefit calculation, yes they use your highest 35 years of earnings indexed for inflation. If you have fewer than 35 years of covered earnings, they average in zeros for the missing years, which definitely reduces your benefit amount. I've also been tracking the Fairness Act closely - it has more support now than in previous years, but Miguel is right that we shouldn't count on it passing. The House version (H.R. 82) has over 300 cosponsors, which is promising, but the cost is still a major hurdle. One suggestion: if you're working part-time anyway, try to maximize your earnings in those remaining quarters. Even though you only need 7 more quarters to qualify, higher earnings in those years could help boost your benefit calculation if they end up in your top 35 years. Hang in there - I know it's frustrating having to work longer than expected, but you're almost there!

I'm a teacher who just went through this process last year! The confusion is totally understandable - I spent months trying to figure out the same questions. One thing that really helped me was creating a spreadsheet to track my quarters by year using my Social Security Statement. You can access it at ssa.gov/myaccount and it breaks down exactly which years you earned credits and how much you made in covered employment. For your husband's military service - did he serve after 1957? Military service after that date should have earned him Social Security credits, so those might count toward his 40 quarters. Pre-1957 military service has different rules. Also wanted to mention that if you're both over full retirement age (which you are at 71 and 73), there are no earnings limits if you do qualify for benefits. So you could potentially work part-time AND collect Social Security once you hit that 40-quarter mark. The waiting game on the Fairness Act is so frustrating. I've been following it closely and while the support seems stronger this time around, I agree with others that it's best not to base retirement plans on it passing. But if it does pass, it could make a huge difference for both of you - especially for your husband's potential spousal benefits. Keep pushing through those last 7 quarters - you're so close to the finish line!

I'm new to this community but dealing with a very similar situation! I worked 15 years as a teacher in a state system that didn't contribute to Social Security, and now I'm trying to piece together enough quarters from other jobs to qualify for benefits. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea about the distinction between Medicare credits and SS credits, or that the Fairness Act wouldn't actually give us credit for those teaching years toward the 40 quarters. That's disappointing but good to know. One question for the group: Has anyone successfully appealed or gotten clarification from SSA about borderline cases? I'm wondering if there are any situations where teaching years might count if there was some SS withholding during certain periods (like summer jobs through the school district that were covered). Also wanted to echo what others have said about contacting representatives. I just called mine yesterday after reading Keisha's post about the GPO eliminating survivor benefits entirely - that's absolutely outrageous and something needs to change. StarSeeker, you're so close with 33 quarters! I hope you can push through those last 7. This whole system seems designed to make it as difficult as possible for educators to get the benefits they deserve.

I'm so glad I found this thread! I'm also dealing with the education/Social Security mess. I taught for 12 years in Ohio where we didn't pay into SS, and I'm currently at 28 quarters from other jobs. Reading everyone's experiences has been really eye-opening. StarSeeker, I feel your frustration about needing those additional quarters. Like others mentioned, I'd definitely recommend checking your exact status on ssa.gov - sometimes the count is different than what we calculate ourselves. One thing I learned recently that might help both you and your husband: if either of you worked any federal jobs (even temporary or seasonal), those usually count toward SS quarters even if they were decades ago. Worth double-checking your records for anything like that. The Fairness Act discussion here has been really informative too. I've been following it but didn't realize how much bipartisan support the current version has. Even if we can't count on it passing, it gives me hope that lawmakers are finally recognizing how unfair WEP and GPO are to educators and public servants. Hang in there with the part-time work - 7 quarters isn't that far! And thank you to everyone who's shared their knowledge here. This community is exactly what I needed to find.