Wife qualfies for SSD, what would you do.
I'm really in need of some solid advice on this one. The wife will be 55 shortly and is at a real crossroads. She had a serious stroke, many years ago, and is totally paralyzed on one side. She ha...
Forum Discussion
soren wrote:
At this point, everybody involved in our situation, and everything I have found online, indicates that any employer pension benefit has nothing to do with qualifying for SSDI, or the amount of benefits.
Not quite right, at least in 2003. My wife worked as a teacher's aide for many years and participated in both PERS( a Calif. pension plan) and Social Security. She paid her share of premiums in both plans. That is important because the rule is:
"The second provision, called the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), affects how we calculate your Social Security retirement or disability benefits if you receive a pension from work not covered by Social Security. See our WEP page for more information."
Initially her SS pension was reduced by about half because SS assumed that per employer had picked up the employee part of her PERS pension. When we proved that she had paid it her amount was increased to the full amount. As I understand it, it is fairly common for employers (at least in Calif.) to pick up the PERS employee contribution if lieu of raises for tax reasons.
It sounds like this doesn't apply to you. I mention it to help someone else in my wife's position.
