Ask Larry

Hi,
My husband is a disabled firefighter and recieves income from PERS - tax free. He draws some SS but is offset due to his profession.
I am a retired teacher and want to start drawing SS - now 65. I submitted my application. The letter stated I would get a small payment due to my offset on my SS number. However, I got another letter a couple of days later and it stated I would get 0- submitted under spousal SS number.
Both of us are affected by GPO and WEP - but both of us have 40 quarters from jobs outside our profession -- you know to pay the bills!!

How do I get them to only use my record?

Thanks

Hi,

It sounds like what happened is that you filed for both retirement benefits on your own record and spousal benefits on your husband's account. In fact, since you apparently filed for reduced benefits before reaching full retirement age you would have been forced to file for both benefits due to deeming (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/claiming.html). Apparently, the first notice you received informed you of what you will be receiving on your own record, and the second notice informed you that you won't be able to receive any additional spousal benefits likely due to the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf). Obviously I can't be certain of that without actually seeing the notices, though, so you may want to double check with Social Security.

Best, Jerry