I am born, lived and worked nearly all my live in Germany. I moved to the USA in 2010 after marrying an US citizen. Now I am 64 years old. I have only worked 5 years part-time in the USA. Due to that fact and special regulations/laws in Germany I will be eligible for full retirement on 1st March 2017. Since about 2 years I am getting as well spouse's benefits from my husbands Social Security. (He is already retired.) I will not get any US Social Security benefits on my own account . The 5 years I worked here in the USA just count towards my years for being eligible for my full German retirement (due to the American-German Social Security Agreement).

My question is: Will I be able to collect my spouse's benefit and get my German retirement? Thanks for answering my question!

Hi,

Yes, you can. Your German pension will not affect your Social Security spousal benefits. Foreign pensions are not considered as 'government' pensions for purposes of the Government Pension Offset provision (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.NSF/LNX/0202608400).

Best, Jerry