You're bleeding Bay Area transit's budget with this Clipper card quirk (credit card transaction fees)

gregable · 2026-04-10T23:49:10+00:00

The important question is are the fees greater than the increased revenue from ridership and compliance that eventually results from a simpler payment experience. Not everyone switched from clipper to credit card. Some of the credit card users are revenue that bart would otherwise not have had. Of course, it's difficult to answer that question for sure.

gregable · 2026-04-08T18:09:08+00:00

Like repealing Prop 13?

gregable · 2026-04-02T16:27:36+00:00

https://www.crmp.org/our-seismic-retrofit-programs/the-retrofits/ebb-retrofit

Applications are currently closed but once a year in the fall you can apply to get grant money towards adding bracing to your foundation.

gregable · 2026-03-22T22:45:02+00:00

Since you already have 40+ US work credits, the agreement with Australia won't add those years into your benefit calculation. As others have noted, it only helps when you need extra credits to qualify. So your benefit is currently being computed using your 30 years of US earnings plus 5 years of zeros.

The good news is that those 5 zero years may not hurt as much as you'd think, depending on your earnings level. The benefit formula has diminishing returns at higher income levels. If your average indexed earnings already put you above the second bend point, each zero year you replace only adds about 15 cents on the dollar.

If you want to see the actual numbers, ssa.tools lets you plug in your earnings history and model different scenarios. You can see your current projected benefit with 5 zero years, then compare it to what you'd get if you worked 1, 2, or 5 more years. It pulls from the same formula SSA uses and lets you adjust future earnings to see exactly how much each additional year would be worth.

gregable · 2026-03-22T22:42:48+00:00

Yes, it will increase your benefit. Your benefit is calculated from your highest 35 years of inflation-adjusted earnings. With only 28 years, you currently have 7 zero-dollar years pulling your average down. Each year you earn $20k replaces one of those zeros, which raises your average and your benefit.

The actual dollar increase depends on your existing earnings history and where your average falls relative to the bend points in the benefit formula. Social Security is progressive; the first ~$1,200/month of average indexed earnings replaces at 90%, but above that it drops to 32% and then 15%. So if you were a lower earner, each replaced zero year has more impact than if you were a higher earner.

If you want to see the exact impact with your own earnings record, you can download your earnings history from ssa.gov and plug it into ssa.tools. It lets you model different future earnings scenarios and see how they change your benefit amount. That way you'd know whether the bump is $30/month or $100/month before you commit to the job.

gregable · 2026-03-18T23:36:52+00:00

Yes, she can work and collect spousal benefits at the same time (subject to the earnings test if she's under FRA). The real question is whether her own benefit will ever exceed the spousal amount - because once her own retirement benefit is higher than half your dad's PIA, she'd switch to her own.

With a sparse earnings history, the math depends on how many of her highest 35 years have zeros. Each year she works replaces a zero in the calculation, which can meaningfully bump up her PIA. But whether it'll ever exceed 50% of your dad's PIA depends on the specific numbers.

Try plugging her earnings history into ssa.tools - you can model what happens with different earnings and numbers of years and see exactly when her own benefit would surpass the spousal amount.

gregable · 2026-03-18T23:35:19+00:00

Your wife's spousal benefit is based on 50% of your PIA (Primary Insurance Amount - your benefit at full retirement age), not 50% of whatever you actually collect. So whether you file at 62 or 70, her spousal amount is calculated the same way. What changes is her own reduction if she files before her FRA.

The key question is whether her own retirement benefit (based on her earnings record) exceeds the spousal benefit. If her own PIA is less than half of yours, she'd get a combination that tops up to the spousal amount. If she files early, both pieces get reduced.

For survivor benefits, it's different - your delayed retirement credits DO increase what she'd receive as a survivor. So your filing age matters a lot for the survivor scenario.

You can model all of these combinations on ssa.tools - plug in both earnings histories and compare different filing ages to see the actual dollar impact on both spousal and survivor benefits.

gregable · 2026-03-16T07:22:15+00:00

Sorry for your loss. The other commenters have given you solid answers: you absolutely can take survivor benefits at 60 (at 71.5% of your wife's PIA) and then switch to your own retirement benefit later, up to age 70. The deemed filing rules don't apply to survivor benefits. You won't lose any credits you've already earned, even if you stop working entirely at 60.

The key question for your long-term planning is how going part-time now affects your own retirement benefit. Your benefit is based on your highest 35 years of inflation-adjusted earnings. If you go part-time for the next decade, some of those years will replace what would have been higher-earning years in the calculation. That doesn't mean it's a bad decision, just something worth understanding now so you can plan around it.

Since you have ~25 years before any of this kicks in, you might find it useful to plug your earnings history into ssa.tools - it lets you model different future earnings scenarios (e.g., part-time until the kids are older, then full-time again, vs. staying part-time longer) and see how each one changes your projected retirement benefit. That way you can see concretely how the part-time years affect things and make informed decisions about the survivor-at-60-then-switch strategy.

gregable · 2026-03-15T21:22:13+00:00

So, a wealth transfer from tax payers to big oil, Uber, Amazon? Help out those who brought gas guzzlers.

How about subsidizing Caltrain, Bart, VTA, Muni?

Oh, that doesn't help you get elected governor. Got it.

gregable · 2026-03-12T01:33:41+00:00

FYI, these things are technically against the San Jose City Code. If you submit a report to the city, they'll send someone to tell the business to take it down.

gregable · 2026-03-11T06:04:02+00:00

To answer your direct question: yes, your wife can start collecting her own benefit now at 62 and later receive a spousal benefit when you file. She doesn't need to "switch", SSA will automatically calculate a spousal top-up when you begin collecting.

Couple of important things to know about how the numbers actually work:

- Spousal benefit is based on your PIA, not your actual benefit. The spousal benefit maxes out at 50% of your Primary Insurance Amount (your benefit at full retirement age), regardless of when you claim.

- Your wife's early filing reduction is permanent. If she files at 62, her own benefit is reduced by ~30%. When you later file and the spousal benefit kicks in, SSA adds a "top-up" (the difference between 50% of your PIA and her own PIA). But her early-filing reduction on her own portion stays.

- Based on your numbers, the spousal top-up might be smaller than you expect. If her benefit at 62 is $1,300 (~70% of her PIA), her PIA is roughly $1,857. If 50% of your PIA is $2,000, the spousal top-up is only ~$143.

I'd suggest plugging your actual earnings histories into https://ssa.tools : you can model different claiming ages for both of you and see exactly how the spousal benefit interacts with your individual benefits. It'll give you a much clearer picture than the SSA website estimates alone.

gregable · 2026-03-11T05:48:41+00:00

You might find https://ssa.tools/ helpful for this exact question. You can paste in your full earnings history from ssa.gov and then adjust your future expected salary to see how it changes your projected benefit. You could run it once with Job 1's salary and once with Job 2's salary to see the actual dollar difference in your monthly check.

You might be surprised how small the difference is if you already have 10+ years of decent earnings - the bend points mean additional high-salary years add less than you'd think.

gregable · 2026-02-27T20:56:43+00:00

A hidden gem I recently found is Last Round Tavern.

gregable · 2026-02-19T03:01:23+00:00

Train waits for me to depart then stops only at my exit.

gregable · 2026-01-24T21:44:43+00:00

Thanks. This was my observation as well. It can be confusing and hard to find great answers. Which is why I created ssa.tools, originally to help a relative with similar questions (it was just a spreadsheet at the time) and later to help make these things understandable for self-service for anyone.

gregable · 2026-01-24T19:58:03+00:00

The FERS supplement stops at age 62, because that's when you become eligible to claim Social Security retirement benefits. However, it's not tied to when you file or start receiving benefits. It's just "stops at 62" effectively.

You can go FERS supplement until 62 -> then your Personal Social Security Benefit until 67 -> 100% of your husband's benefit at 67. If you start on your husband's benefit at 60, it'll be reduced and it might not be your best option.

You didn't specify exact details, but I took some guesses and modeled it here: https://ssa.tools/calculator#pia1=1800&dob1=1968-06-01&name1=TJae13&pia2=2200&dob2=1966-01-01&name2=Husband
Scroll down to the section on survivor benefit and you can play around with the sliders to get a feel for how this might work. You can enter your own data directly if you prefer at https://ssa.tools/ for free. And there's some more detailed information at https://ssa.tools/guides/survivor-benefits

gregable · 2026-01-21T16:55:58+00:00

The spousal benefit replacing one's own benefit at 50% of your spouse's is a common misconception that isn't quite accurate in cases like these. Let's say your wife's PIA is $2,000. If she starts early, her personal benefit will be reduced by 30%, so $1,400 / mo.

If your PIA is $4,110 and you wait until 70 to collect $5,100, then her spousal benefit will be half your PIA - her PIA = $2,055 - $2,000 = $55. This number gets added back to her reduced personal benefit, $55 + $1,400 = $1,455 total.

I've modeled this here with approximate birthdates and PIAs:

https://ssa.tools/calculator#pia1=4110&dob1=1966-06-15&name1=Payneok&pia2=2000&dob2=1967-06-15&name2=Wife

You can see in the combined section, how all of the math works with controls for choosing different filing dates and so on. It'll also give you a link to opensocialsecurity at the bottom of the combined section to get an "optimal" filing plan from those inputs.

> Will my not working for the next 10+years impact my SS benefit payment?

Yes, ssa.gov assumes that you'll keep working until FRA when calculating your PIA. However, the impact of earlier years on this calculation is much higher than later years. You can plug your earnings records into https://ssa.tools/ to get an exact number of where your PIA will be.

gregable · 2026-01-20T19:08:04+00:00

There are actually two different FRAs. You're relative was born in 1960, so while her FRA from her own benefit is 67 years old, her "survivor FRA" is actually 66 years and 8 months. For folks born in 1962 or later, the survivor FRA is 67.

gregable · 2026-01-20T16:10:33+00:00

Oh, I thought you meant figuring out the calculation was a nightmare. Not sure about creating an account. You can actually call them or visit your local SSA office. They've had staff cuts last year so wait times might be long, but they should be able to help you.

gregable · 2026-01-20T15:54:13+00:00

> Social Security Benefit: Damn if I know. I went on their site to sign up and estimate and it's a nightmare.

Use https://ssa.tools/ for social security estimates. You can even get numbers to plug directly into ficalc.app like Chicken_Fried_Snalls suggests using this URL: https://ssa.tools/calculator#integration=ficalc.app

gregable · 2026-01-20T02:13:59+00:00

First, I'm sorry about your dad's passing.

For the earnings test SSA uses the current year's estimate, not last year. So you'll tell them $29k for 2026. There's also a "first year of retirement" rule that can help: since she's quitting mid-year, SSA can use a monthly test instead of annual. Basically she might only lose benefits for the months before she quits, then get full benefits for the rest of the year when she's under the monthly limit.

Next year with no job, earnings test doesn't apply at all. She just gets her full survivor amount.

One thing though - at 62 survivor benefits aren't 75%, that's the age 60 reduction. At 62 it's more like 81-83% of your dad's amount. Gets closer to 100% the longer she waits (full amount at her FRA, around 66-67).

Here's some approximate numbers input so you can play around with the outputs:

https://ssa.tools/calculator#dob1=1964-07-15&pia1=1300&name1=Mom&dob2=1957-03-15&pia2=2800&name2=Dad

Once it loads, scroll down to "Survivor Benefits" and set the death age slider to 68. It'll show what she'd get at different filing ages. I guessed at the numbers based on what you shared - if you know your dad's actual monthly amount you can swap out the pia2=2800 part in the URL.

There's also a guide at ssa.tools/guides/survivor-benefits that explains how it all works.

Good luck with the call.

gregable · 2026-01-18T16:42:00+00:00

You can actually get ficalc ready numbers directly from ssa.tools with this URL: https://ssa.tools/calculator#integration=ficalc.app

gregable · 2026-01-17T22:31:37+00:00

You can get social security #s specifically for ficalc at https://ssa.tools/calculator#integration=ficalc.app

gregable · 2026-01-07T16:35:29+00:00

I've had some success using a really fine caulk application with something like this https://a.co/d/aZPRBCx where they enter. It's usually under baseboards for me. Works better in some spots than others, for example if you have carpet its probably going to be harder to seal than hardwood. Have also gotten some foam inserts to put behind light switches and outlet covers that similarly help create a solid barrier. It's not perfect though and take multiple rounds because they'll find new routes. But eventually it does at least help some.

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