Hi Larry, I worked 9.5 years in the US and about 20 years in Canada. I have 37 credits for SS. I qualify for the Canada Pension Plan. I am trying to figure out if it is better for me to use "Totalisation without WEP" -- or -- to return to work in the US (difficult since a specific Visa would be reqd) to gain 3 more credits (WEP reduction would then apply, I think). The WEP calculation is easy to find on SS website. I have not been able to find the totalisation calculation/formula to make the scenario comparison.
Can you help with a consultation or would your software answer my 2 scenario questions?

Hi,

Our software doesn't calculate totalization benefits (i.e. Social Security benefits based on combined U.S. credits and credits from another country), but does handle WEP calculations. The formula for calculating totalization benefits is complex, but here is a link to the appropriate reference from Social Security's operations manual if you're of a mind to try to calculate it yourself: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0201701200.

It does sound like WEP would apply if you are receiving your Canadian pension and you start drawing regular Social Security retirement benefits based on at least 40 U.S. quarters of coverage, but I can't tell you whether you would be better off that way as opposed to receiving a U.S. totalization benefit along with your Canadian pension. We do offer an expert review and phone consultation option on our purchase page, but we would need to know at least the approximate amount of your potential totalization benefit in order to be able to compare that with the WEP calculation.

Best, Jerry