My husband and I have been married for 10 years and have lived in the United States for 9 years of that marriage. I am a woman who is 34. In 2 months, My husband will soon turn 66 and 2 months, his Full Retirement Age, and he will apply for his social security benefits to begin at that time, and we will also apply for Child In Care and Child Auxiliary Benefits as well as we have a 9 year old child. We have now moved to live permanently in France. If I at some point (whether now or 10/15 years from now), decide to start working in France, how would my work potentially affect my future survivors widow benefit that I would be eligible to take at age 60? (I am not referring to the $18,000 yearly limit on my income while receiving child in care benefits, as I would be sure to keep my income below $18,000 while receiving child in care benefits). What I am referring to is the foreign work test, or windfall elimination, or government pension offset. I am not sure if I decide to work in France, if that would affect or reduce my future widow/survivor benefits at age 60 through social security. Could you please advise me unto which circumstances I should be concerned? As of yet I have worked very little and do not qualify for USA or French social security benefits on my own record. My husband has worked more than 40 years in the USA. We are both USA citizens and now also French residents. We are considering becoming French citizens as well in the future, having dual citizenship. Thank you and have a wonderful day!
Hi. The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) could not affect either your child in care or widow's benefits because WEP only applies to Social Security retirement or disability benefits. Nor will the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision impact your benefits unless you worked for a government agency in the U.S. and if you receive a pension based on that government work.
It sounds like you're misunderstanding how your work and earnings in France could affect your benefits, though. The normal Social Security earnings test doesn't apply to foreign work, so Social Security won't go by the dollar amount that you earn if you work in France. Instead, they will use the foreign work test, which would apply to both your child in care benefits and widow's benefits until you reach full retirement age (FRA). Under the foreign work test, you couldn't be paid benefits for any months that you're employed or self-employed for more than 45 hours (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0302605005). The dollar amount of your earnings is irrelevant when evaluating work outside of the U.S.
You and your husband may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze your options so that you can determine the best filing strategy for your family.
Best, Jerry
