I was in the Army from 1965-1967. I applied for SS at age 62. I had all my quarters in SS before I worked for the post office. When I applied they told me I would receive $950.00 per month but because I retired from the PO they had to take some away. 15 year later I am only receiving $546. Why was I penalized for having a PO retirement? Also how do I know if I was credited for my military time? Thanks for any help.

Hi. It sounds like the probable reason for your lower benefit rate is the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). WEP can cause the amount of a person's Social Security retirement benefit to be reduced if they also receive a pension that's based on their earnings on which they didn't pay Social Security taxes (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf). Therefore, assuming that you didn't pay Social Security taxes while working for the Post Office then the reduction in your Social Security benefit rate is probably correct.

You should have received deemed military wages (DMW) for the time you spent on active duty in the U.S. military, and those DMWs can be used when calculating your benefit rate (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.09/handbook-0953.html). There is a question on Social Security applications that asks if you were in the military, so you probably told Social Security about your military service and received the proper credits. If you want to check with Social Security, there is a code on the beneficiary records in Social Security's computer system that reflects whether or not DMWs were used in calculating a person's benefit rate. Any reasonably well trained Social Security representative should be able to check your record and let you know if military service credits were included when calculating your benefit rate.

Best, Jerry