My mother is a Hungarian citizen and the green card holder in the US since 1999. She worked full time in Hungary for 40 years and retired there lawfully at the age of 62, and started receiving social security benefit from there. Hungary did not have any type of pension or retirements at the time she worked there, so there was no way to accumulate any savings. She moved to the US in 1999 and has been continuously employed since, first part time, then full time.

I work for the MBTA, recently I have read articles about MBTA pension fund be converted into Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement System. MBTA pensioners pay into SS. I have only worked at the MBTA for 5 years. I have been paying into Social Security since age 16. I have over 47 Qtrs. Can the State of Mass legally, by converting the pension, take away or reduce my SS benefit that I have contributed too,over 40 Qtrs.in the private sector?

Hi,

Dear Larry, thank for taking my question. I'm almost 67, and my wife almost 66. I get State cum County pension of about $6500/-, I'm still working for my Corporation. My wife not working, her past SS statements show that she is already have enough credits for $ 1000/-. My SS statement show about the same. Due to my pension, how much it can effect our social security. What are our best options. Please guide. Thank you.

Hi,

Hi, I am turning 70 in Sept 2017 and have chosen to keep working because i enjoy it. I have not yet started taking my teacher STRS pension of about 4,000 per month, which i understand is subject to WEP and GPO rules. My wife will begin taking her ss at 70 in August 2017 and getting about 2,500 per month. My ss is about 1000 per month, based on about 20 years of work under ss. My questions are:
1) If i do not start my STRS pension, does WEP and GPO rules apply to my ss taken at 70?

My wife, a Federal Gov't worker for 30 yrs was under FERS and CSRS, thus she is probably going to receive a small SS monthly check because of GPO and WEP. Would it be better to claim now (age 68) or wait until age 70 as we intended to do to get the largest amount? I am retired military with 28 yrs in the service for my country. I made about 1/3 more than she did through the years.

Hi,

Thank you for your help on the GPO. I'm learning how any single SS document can be misleading. The POM you mentioned seems to simply and clearly answer the question. But it turns out there are other POM's on the GPO that give a more nuanced, updated and different answer. POM 400 sand IRS pub 963 say that there are exclusions and exemptions to the GPO for optional savings plans, if they meet certain conditions. Other things covered in the POM mentioned have also been changed. The problem is that there isn't an official single document addressing the GPO.

My wife receives two payouts from the Ct. State Teachers Retirement Board (TRB): (A.) a Primary Monthly Benefit based on pretax mandatory contributions by both the state and her, whose payout is based on earnings and time in service plus and (B.) a Monthly Voluntary Account Annuity based on, elective, after tax contributions by her alone, whose payout is only the return of the contributions plus interest and is not part of the Primary benefit.

Hello,
I work for a US Company, however I worked in the UK for 10 years after 5 years in the UK due to the Totalization Agreement with the UK my company stopped paying Social Security etc in the US and started paying into the UK system (from 2003 to 2007) now my US Social Security Statement shows 0 Earnings from 2003 to 2007. What should I do? Am I eligible for a UK payment as well as a US payment?
Tom

Hi Tom,

My husband and I will be 66 in September 2017. He gets a teacher pension but has a small social security benefit from other work history that is offset by his teacher pension. He started taking SS benefits last year at age 65. I would like to hold off on taking my SSbenefit until age 70. Can I file a restricted application for spousal benefits? Will my benefit be based on his benefit original benefit amount before it was offset by his pension, or on his much smaller actual benefit amount?

Hi,

What is the impact on Social Security benefits when you work in the private sector, but then work in the public sector such that you opt out of the public employee pension system (matching contributions from state, but without a guaranteed pension benefit, that is, no pension payment, just a pot of money to invest) and participate fully in 401(a), 403(b), and 457 plans? Since there is no pension, per se, is there no reduction in SS benefits?