The Social Security curveballs making retirement even more confusing [Video]

Patrice Earnest, 66, expected to have much more money for retirement. But after her husband died, she checked her Social Security survivor benefits. The total: $0.

“It’s absolutely stunning,” Earnest said. “My husband worked all his life since he was 16 bagging groceries, and that Social Security was something we had planned to have in our retirement.”

Earnest won’t see a penny of the benefits her husband worked for — and it’s due to her work history, not his. She’s one of a few million Americans who see cuts to either their own Social Security benefits or to their survivor benefits when a spouse dies because they have a career history that includes both government and private sector jobs.

The idea is to ensure public servants with pensions don’t get overly generous retirement benefits, keeping people like Earnest from receiving full benefits from both a government pension and Social Security. But like many people affected by this, …