I am 8 months away from being able to claim my British Pension but have to pay to fill a few gap years which amounts to $2,500. I am currently claiming Social Security from the United States having worked here for nearly 40 years.
I am trying to confirm that my SSI won't be reduced because of my British pension. I have the WEP substantial wages chart and find that I did not earn the amount needed for a few of those years BUT did earn quite a bit more in some of the other years then was required. I do have about 92 credits paid into SSI which is a lot more than the 40 required.
I do not want to have my SSI reduced by claiming my British pension nor do I want to pay in to something and then loose what I gain at this end.

I would appreciate your help. I have called SSA (since I can not go to their office as they are closed due to COVID and they have said "looks like you MAY not get a reduction" which does not exactly give me the confidence I need!

Hi,

I can't give you a complete answer without knowing your full earnings history. In order to meet the exception to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) that you're referencing, you'd need to have at least 30 years of U.S. Social Security covered earnings that are considered substantial based on substantial based on the chart on page 2 of the following Social Security publication: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf.

If you did have at least 30 years of U.S. Social Security covered earnings that meet the definition of 'substantial earnings' as defined in the WEP provision, then WEP will not cause any reduction to your Social Security retirement benefit rate. But, if you've had 40 years of U.S. earnings and if you only have 92 quarters of Social Security coverage (QC), then you probably don't have at least 30 years of earnings that would be defined as 'substantial'. At least since 1979 you would have been credited with 4 QCs for any year in which you had 'substantial earnings', so if you have less than 120 QCs that makes me think that it's unlikely you'd meet the 30 year of substantial earnings exception to WEP.

It sounds like you may be confusing the terminology used by Social Security. 40 QCs is the minimum number of QCs that you need in order to qualify for at least a minimal Social Security retirement benefit. QCs represent calendar year quarters, so you can earn 40 QCs by working in as few as 10 years. If you have 92 QC's you'll definitely qualify for U.S. Social Security retirement benefits, but you almost certainly don't have the 30 years of substantial earnings that would make you exempt from a WEP reduction.

Fortunately, our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) is fully programmed to handle WEP calculations, so you should strongly consider using our software to fully analyze your options so that you can determine your best strategy for claiming benefits.

Best, Jerry