My wife is currently retired under the terms of the old federal government pension plan. I will be retiring soon on social security. I would like to know if I pass away would my wife be entitled to my retirement and if not what would be the best way for her to maximize her potential income. Thank you

Hi,

Assuming that your wife is already receiving her pension, It sounds like any Social Security spousal or survivor benefits for which she'd qualify would likely be offset by 2/3rds of the amount of her government pension (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf). Therefore, she'll probably only qualify for any benefits from your account if 2/3rds of the amount of her civil service pension is less than her spousal or survivor rate.

But, if your wife has enough Social Security work credits to qualify for benefits on her own record then she could be paid at least some benefits. The windfall elimination provision (WEP) would likely reduce the amount of benefits she could be paid, but WEP never reduces a person's own Social Security retirement rate to zero (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf).

Your wife could potentially claim benefits on her own record any time between age 62 and 70, and her rate would get progressively higher the longer she waits. You and your wife should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully explore your options so that you can determine your best overall strategy for claiming benefits given your set of circumstances.

Best, Jerry