My wife retired at age 62 from LAUSD and work somewhere else before. she took her retirement from LAUSD plus her 62 retirement benefit from Social security but getting only supplemental for her LAUSD retirement? Can she get the 50% spouse benefits instead when I will take my full retirement in 2 years because the 50% spouse SS is bigger than what she is getting now.

Hi,

Whether or not your wife will be able to draw any spousal benefits when you file for your benefits likely depends on the amounts of her potential spousal benefit and her LAUSD pension. I'm assuming that your wife didn't pay Social Security taxes on the earnings on which her LAUSD pension is based, and that her Social Security retirement benefit is lower as a result due to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). If that's correct then any Social Security spousal benefits for which your wife would otherwise qualify would almost certainly be offset by 2/3rds of the amount of her LAUSD pension due to the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf).

For example, say Amy files for her Social Security retirement benefits at age 62. Amy's primary insurance amount (PIA), which is the amount that she would receive if she started drawing her benefits at full retirement age (FRA), is $800. However, since Amy is receiving a teacher's pension based on earnings that were exempt from Social Security taxes, her PIA is reduced to $400. Furthermore, since Amy is claiming her benefits at age 62 her rate is reduced for age to $275.

When Amy reaches FRA her husband files for his Social Security retirement benefits with a PIA of $2000. Amy's unreduced spousal benefit would then be calculated by subtracting her PIA from 50% of her husband's PIA, which in her case is $600 (i.e. $2000/2 - $400). However, due to the GPO provision 2/3rds of the amount of Amy's teacher's pension would be withheld from her spousal benefit, so if Amy's teacher's pension is $900 or more then her spousal rate would be reduced to zero (i.e. $900 x 2/3 - $600 = $0).

Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) is fully programmed to handle both WEP and GPO calculations, so you and your wife may want to strongly consider using the software to determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry