I am 67 years old, I have been in TRS for 33 years, I receive half of my first husbands SS. My question, if I retire from TRS I would loose the SS, my question is if I take a lump sum from TRS would I still get SS from my first husband? My second question is, if my first husband passes, does the SS increase?

Thanks,
Debbie

Hi Debbie. My answer assumes that your TRS pension would be based on your earnings that were exempt from Social Security taxes. In that case, the answer is probably yes. Receiving a pension that's based on your non-Social Security covered earnings from a governmental agency in the U.S. can cause any Social Security spousal, divorced spousal, or survivor benefits that you receive to be reduced by 2/3rds of the amount of your government pension. That's due to the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf).

Even if you opt for a lump sum in lieu of a pension it will likely result in an offset of your divorced spousal or survivor benefits. Whether or not that would cause your benefits to be reduced to zero depends on the amount of your TRS pension or lump sum and your Social Security divorced spousal or survivor benefit rate. Lump sum amounts received in lieu of a governmental pension are prorated into a monthly rate by Social Security, and if 2/3rds of the prorated amount exceeds the person's Social Security spousal, divorced spousal, or survivor benefit rate, it reduces their benefit rate to zero.

Our software is fully programmed to handle GPO computations, including lump sum prorations, so you should strongly consider using the software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully compare and analyze all of your options so that you can determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry