I have been receiving SS benefits using 50% of my spouse’s benefits for 3 years, because 50% of his benefit was more than mine. I turned 70 in November 2021. Am I supposed to do something to receive benefits using my own account? Social security has not notified me, however, I had a note in a margin of a letter saying to contact them. Will I get more or less? (Also, they have been deducting 2/3 of the amount that I receive from my teaching pension, will that ever stop?

Hi. When you applied for spousal benefits I assume your restricted your own Social Security retirement benefits from the scope of your application. In that case, you'd need to file a separate application in order to claim Social Security retirement benefits on your own account.

It sounds like your spousal benefits are being partially offset due to the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision. GPO would not apply to your own benefits, but your own benefits could be subject to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). WEP can cause a person's retirement benefit rate to be computed using a less generous calculation formula if they also receive a pension that's based on their earnings that were exempt from Social Security taxes (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf).

There isn't enough information in your question for me to know whether or not filing for your own benefits would be advantageous, however, our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) is programmed to handle those types of calculations. I would suggest either using the software or contacting Social Security to find out whether or not it would be advantageous to file for your own benefits.

Best, Jerry