Dear Larry,

I was born in the UK and worked there for over 30 years. I now live in the US and have worked here over 20 years and am now a US citizen.

For approximately 6 years, I have been collecting both my social security and my UK pension. Since taking my social security, it has been reduced considerably due to the Windfall Elimination Provision. My UK pension over the past 6 years has ranged from $1,050 to $778 depending on the exchange rate. My social security for the first year was reduced by $498, the second year $506 and I don't know the exact amount they have reduced it since. In my opinion, the guarantee that social security won't reduce my social security benefit more than half of my pension is not happening. Based on these figures, do you also believe this is not happening?

Also, the social security representative at that time told me that the exchange rate that he will initially use will have to be used forever going forward. Is this true?

From the beginning, my argument with the social security representative at that time was that I was not a US citizen while I worked in the UK and that I already paid into the UK pension system. Therefore, why is my social security subject to the Windfall Elimination Provision. The answer I received was "because it is." I'm still not convinced that this is true and was wondering if I should make an appointment with the local security office or seek a social security lawyer. In the meantime, I found your website. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards, Don

Hi,

If your monthly benefit rate is in fact being reduced by more than $500 per month based on the WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) guarantee, then yes I think that sounds high. The maximum monthly reduction based on the normal WEP calculation method is even lower than that, although the exact amounts vary depending on the person's year of birth. You might want to consider filing an appeal if possible, or submit a written request for a recomputation of your benefit rate if you are outside of your appeal period.

The WEP guarantee is calculated based on the amount of a person's non-covered pension in the first month of their concurrent entitlement to both Social Security benefits and their non-covered pension (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0300605370). So, it sounds like the Social Security representative you spoke with was correct in that regard.

Neither your current citizenship nor your citizenship at the time you had your UK earnings has any bearing on WEP. The relevant facts are that you are receiving a pension based on your earnings that were exempt from U.S. Social Security taxes, and you apparently don't meet any of the exceptions to WEP. That's simply the way that Congress wrote the law. For more information on WEP and it's exceptions, refer to this Social Security publication: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf.

Best, Jerry