On June 1, I will retire from local government after 23 years, but the City does not pay into social security; being one of
about 7 states. However, I contributed to SS almost 20 years, but was told I would lose at least 2/3, possibly all of it.
This is due to the GPO. I am a divorced widow, and my government pension is unbelievably low because I didn't work
there for 30 years. This is the most unfair rule I've ever heard, and each time I call SS, I get a different answer. Any
advice from you is greatly appreciated.
Hi,
What you must first understand is that there are 2 different provisions involved. The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) can affect only benefits payable based on a person's own Social Security record, whereas the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision can only affect benefits payable on someone else's Social Security record (e.g. spousal, widows, divorced survivor).
If you file for divorced survivor benefits on a deceased ex-spouse's record and you are receiving a government pension based on earnings that were exempt from Social Security taxes, then your divorced survivor benefits would likely be reduced by 2/3rds of the amount of your government pension (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf).
If you file for retirement benefits based on your own earnings history and are receiving a pension based on earnings that were exempt from Social Security taxes, then your retirement benefit rate would likely be calculated using the less generous WEP formula than the one normally used compute benefit rates (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf). However, the reduction resulting from WEP cannot exceed roughly one-half of the amount of your non-covered pension.
Thus, while GPO can result in as much as a full offset of survivor benefits depending on the pension and benefit amounts involved, WEP never reduces benefits payable based on a person's own work record to zero.
Your best strategy for claiming Social Security benefits depends on the benefit rates involved and the amount of your government pension. Our maximization software is programmed to handle cases involving both WEP and GPO, so you should strongly consider using it to sort out all of your options and determine your best overall strategy.
Best, Jerry
