Q. My wife and I are retired. My wife has both a small civil service pension and Social Security. I had 30-plus years of Social Security earnings when I retired in 1998. If I survive my wife, will the reduced amount I would receive from her government pension affect my Social Security payment? I am asking about Government Offset Pension rules.
A. The government pension offset applies only to the spousal Social Security benefit of someone receiving an annuity from a retirement system where he or she didn’t pay Social Security taxes, such as CSRS. It doesn’t apply to the earned Social Security benefit of someone entitled to a CSRS survivor annuity.
