Interesting idea to ladder within the TSP. I might have to take a look at that. So far I haven’t touched my TSP in retirement, and I don’t plan to until I’m at least 62 (59 now), because of the way retirement benefits work (I get a social security like supplement to my pension until 62).
@thumper1 are you sure your SS benefits won’t increase if your DH dies before you?
My mom’s social security benefits DID NOT increase after my dad passed away.
She is a state government retiree and receives their retirement plan. Which precludes her from drawing from my dads.
This is very very common when you have a public service/teacher retirement plan.
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Yes there are specific stipulations on some things - some school and state retirement plans; the rail road stuff that we all see in tax returns. We have a cousin that was a RR employee and spouse had her own SS benefits - they indicated their benefit situation worked out OK - but IDK once one of them passed I imagine the other just had that person’s retirement benefit also go away.
I wonder if going into work and having these stipulations if it would change any decisions on long term employment.
I taught 9 yrs in a private system that participated in SS. With that and my years working while in HS/college, I am able to collect a small and reduced SS benefit. If I had spent my entire career in the public schools (which, in MA, do NOT participate in SS) I would have no benefit at all.
What stinks is that if I predecease my wife, her survivor benefit is also reduced, which isn’t fair at all, given that she has never spent a day in education in her life.
That’s correct for my mom also. She receives enough social security to basically pay her Medicare costs
Same here–what’s left over from my SS payment is about equal to what the state takes out of my pension for my Blue Cross Medicare Advantage plan.
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I believe federal government retirees can add on spousal benefits from their retirement. Are you able to do that with your school retirement?
My wife gets a survivor benefit from my teacher pension should I predecease her. I take a slightly smaller payout each month to cover that.
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@SOSConcern i am absolutely positive. I can never collect on my husbands SS record. Believe me, if I could…I’d be doing that. Not ever possible.
I’m a retired teacher. My state teachers do not contribute to SS and are subject to the offset and windfall provisions.
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@thumper1 i am in the same position. I will be unable to collect on my spouses Social Security. We will collect earlier rather than later based on that. If we wait until 70 and my spouse dies at 69 we will have never collected a penny on his Social Security. It is definitely a consideration for those of us under WEP and GPO. It is rarely talked about when recommending waiting until 70.
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@bhs1978 agree. And it’s the main reason why I want my DH to start collecting sooner than later. But for 2021, his extra earnings have exceeded what he would collect in SS so that’s getting banked. But really…we could still be banking an additional $30,000 or so…right?
If our financial planner reviews and says to collect…I think DH will. We will see.
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I don’t think your wife’s survivor benefit (should you predecease her) is reduced by the WEP unless she’s also subject to the GPO. Unless I’m mistaken, the survivors bene is determined by the standard Social Security formula without any reduction for WEP.
From AARP:
When the worker dies, the widow’s or widower’s survivor benefit is based on the deceased’s benefit as determined by the standard Social Security formula, without any reduction for the WEP.
The WEP reduces Social Security based on my credits. It can not be reduced to zero but it takes a big hit. Therefore I will not collect on my own behalf until later. It will be an extremely small amount.
The GPO will affect my spousal benefits based on my spouses credits. There is a formula that is used to determine the reduction but it can be reduced to $0. That’s where I fall (and I guess where @thumper1 falls). $0 survivor benefits for me.
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Question for those who signed up for Medicare after 65 (because you had private insurance): what sort of insurance proof did Medicare require when you were signing up to avoid the penalty? I suppose I can google it but I thought asking our collective CC “brain” would be easier and more informative. My husband turned 65 this year and still has excellent, employer-paid private insurance, so he has not bothered with Medicare yet.
I needed a letter from my employer stating that I was still covered by their insurance. I used a broker, and she took care of faxing it in for me after I got the signature. After no part B payment, it is a little sad to see that money being taken out of my checks.
BB, hopefully your H claimed part A, as I did per instructions when I turned 65. One of the surprises with that process is needing both my naturalization certificate, which I have never needed for anything, as well as my divorce certificate.
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Thanks! Very helpful! He just recently changed jobs. No gap in the coverage though. He did not do the part A sign up. He hates, hates, hates paperwork. Ugh. 
Did you mean to say he did sign up for part A? I hope so!
No he did not.