Hello Larry,
My wife and I both turn 62 next year, I retired from public service at 57 and she also stopped working. We currently live on my pension and 457 plan. I am currently short of my 40 quarters, I have 38 since I did not pay into SS during my public service .
Will I be able to get any SS as a spouse since my wife will get SS?, if yes will it be reduced because of the pension clause?
Should I go work to get my 40 quarters and then take the reduction because of my pension?

Any info is greatly appreciated, it’s hard to find information on people with pension and SS.

BOB

Hi Bob. It sounds like any spousal benefits that you'd qualify for would likely be offset at least in part due to the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision. People receiving a pension based on their earnings from a governmental agency that were exempt from Social Security taxes are subject to having any Social Security spousal or survivor benefits for which they would otherwise qualify offset by 2/3rds of the amount of their government pension. In other words, unless your spousal benefit rate is more than 2/3rds of the amount of your pension from your public service work, you probably couldn't be paid any spousal benefits (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf).

If you earn the necessary quarters of coverage (QC) needed to meet the insured status requirement for Social Security retirement benefits, you could be paid at least some benefits even if your rate is lowered due to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). WEP can cause a person's Social Security retirement or disability benefits to be reduced, but it never reduces an insured person's benefit rate to zero (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf).

Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) is fully programmed to handle calculations involving both the WEP and GPO provisions, so you and your wife should strongly consider using the software to help you determine the best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry