WEPChart - Maximum Monthly Amount Your Benefit May Be Reduced Because Of The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)*‍

Here’s only a couple examples:

William and Wanda are married. William was a police officer for the county, which had its own retirement system and did not pay into Social Security. He retired in 2006 and receives a police pension of $3,000 per month. After retiring from the police job, he worked for ten years as a consultant for a private firm. He therefore qualifies for Social Security and has a pre-WEP adjusted PIA of $1,200. Wanda worked all her life in a regular, Social Security-covered job and has a PIA of $1,800. Here’s what William and Wanda can expect out of Social Security under a variety of scenarios: ‍

William files for his retirement benefit. William’s PIA will be reduced under the WEP because of his police job. The WEP reduction is not related to the amount of his pension, but rather the number of years he worked in the consulting job. The more years he paid into Social Security, the smaller the WEP reduction will be. In calculating his PIA, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will multiply the first bend point by anywhere from .40 (less than 20 years in the covered job) to .90 (30 or more years in the covered job). Depending on the first bend point for his age cohort, this has the effect of reducing the PIA by $400 or more. You can use the SSA WEP Calculator to figure your own WEP. ‍

William files for his spousal benefit. William may wonder if he can receive a spousal benefit based on Wanda’s record. Yes, but his spousal benefit will be subject to the GPO. This means any spousal benefit he may be entitled to will be reduced by two-thirds of the amount of his police pension. Since his maximum spousal benefit is $900 (50% of Wanda’s $1,800 PIA), the GPO reduction of $2,000 (two-thirds of William’s $3,000 pension) would wipe out the entire spousal benefit. ‍

Wanda dies and William files for his survivor benefit. Likewise, William’s survivor benefit based on Wanda’s record will be subject to the GPO, reduced by two-thirds of the amount of his pension. If Wanda delays to age 70, her benefit could be as much as $2,376 ($1,800 x 1.32) when she dies. Subtracting the $2,000 GPO, William would end up with a survivor benefit of $376.‍

Wanda files for her retirement benefit. She will receive her Social Security benefit as usual because all of her earnings were from Social Security-covered jobs.‍

William dies and Wanda receives a police survivor pension. Because Wanda has always paid into Social Security, she may receive her survivor pension from William’s police job without her own Social Security benefit being affected.