It's hard to know without more info. If your husband has "substantial earnings" as defined by SS (see link below), it seems that he can take the pension benefit without it affecting his SS benefit. But for the money involved, it would be a good idea to consult with a lawyer who specializes in pension benefits law. This is a very complicated area and really requires the services of a specialist. Here is a link that might be useful: Windfall Elimination Provision

We have to listen to what Marilyn Sue is telling us. She *cannot* talk to her spouse. He is evidently completely disinterested in her thoughts or opinions. I gather it has been 'his way or the highway' ever since she married him as a teenager. Do you remember that he 'gave' her a tractor or front end loader or something one Christmas -- something she has never seen, since he uses it in his business? She doesn't drive because he didn't want her to learn how to drive. I am surprised that she is allowed to use a computer and communicate with people outside her immediate family and church. We are not all 'emancipated', and some women are OK with that -- although I have not known many of my generation. A friend told me that when he married, her second generation Italian-American father gave her mother a set amount every week for household expenses, and she made do with it. The amount stayed the same for years (and two children) until she couldn't make it stretch and dared ask for more. Only THEN did he tell her of several raises he'd had; he'd could give her a *little* more. My DM taught me how to balance HER checkbook when I was in middle school. I've paid our bills since I was a newlywed. At first I just had more time to ddo it. DH and I decide together what to spend, invest, etc., but I do the bookwork.

What I mean about having our ups and downs the first few years are...she accused me of being the reason for the divorce even though I met him a month before the divorce was final. It wasn't until 2 years later that she finally spoke to me. This woman has been on 3 different types of anti-depressants, at the same time. She has talked bad about me, my husband, and our daughter to anyone that will listen in front of the boys including to her former pastor. About 3 years ago her and I actually became friendly to each other. We had breakfast together one morning with all the kids and even had all the kids picture taken with Santa that Christmas. I couldn't deal with being friends with her because it was too wierd. We eventually stopped talking and she took it personal. Right now it's almost like we are on a "need to know basis." We only talk to each other when we absolutely need to. Yes, I know a lot about what goes on in her house. When the oldest SS was about 8 he had a sleep over at a friends house. He ended up taking his friends gameboy. He knew better and he lied about it when she asked if he had taken it. When she found it she flipped out. She called the cops and told them the story and that she wanted them to "take it all the way." They ended up coming to her house, put him in handcuffs and took him to jail at the station. They told her she could pick him up in 15 minutes. They also told his little brother that he would never see him again because they were taking him to jail. This all came from her mouth. Yes, I believe in punishing to fit the crime but to send an 8 year old to jail is a little too much. I think the cops should have come to the house and talked to him but not have gone that far and she let it. To me that's borderline child abuse. Of course I could go on but you get the picture.

bulldinkie, this is a good/great thread, and the kind of discussion that the KT needs...how much fun to discuss something besides the last meal you made or your grandkids...why would you think otherwise...no one has said an unkind word and I wasn't chastising you personally...just giving my opinion....you may not like my opinion or my giving my opinion but at least it provoked an interesting discussion. Our way may not suit everyone, it is a very individual thing, but someone implied earlier in this thread that some of us had taken advantage of circumstances...and yes maybe we did, a very smart thing to do...but we also made those circumstances and we made them happen as well. I will tell you all this...at the ripe old age of about 50 years old, (we are 68 now) I had not very much in the bank and my now husband had come out of a divorce where he gave her everything including a big chunk of money every month...He sat down with a pen and paper and we made a retirement plan and we have stuck too it...No one gifted us anything...we made opportunities for ourselves...WE moved at every moment possible so that we could raise the salary...you can't stay with a company and increase your salary more than a small percentage...we wanted 30 or 40 thousand so as soon as we possibly could, we changed jobs and moved yet again to increase the salary and we raised our standard of living but most of it went into the savings account...We hired someone with financial knowledge to help us...We chose our real estate wisely, we made sure that we were going to make money when we sold because we were changing jobs again....We moved/changed jobs 9 times ...yes 9 times in order to raise the amount of money we were making...We packed out goods, our animals and our cars and traipsed across country 9 times to better our situation... No one laid anything in our laps we worked hard for it and we made it happen.......when we made our plan we had a car payment..when that 460 dollars a month was paid off...we immediately started paying that to our savings account...We had a credit card with 3 or 4 thousand on it, we took nearly all of our savings and paid that off and started making that payment to ourselves...we made and amortization table including interest and it went to our savings account and we refused to pay interest to someone else...There are lots of ways to improve your situation but just sitting on your hands and doing nothing about it isn't the answer...We don't have any money issues anymore ...we are retired and living pretty good but no one and nothing did it for us...we did it ourselves in the same time frame that you all are talking about because we were willing to do it...and in the end...we had a great time moving to new places and meeting new people and changing our lifestyle with each move...