Q. I have been told that my Social Security benefits may be reduced under the windfall elimination provision. Why would this apply to a British-born citizen who worked and contributed to the government retirement benefit program there and now receives a small pension there? I did not become an American citizen until 1999, although I worked and paid Social Security until 2001 and have earned enough credits to quality for benefits here. The amounts of both pensions are too small to live on and I am wondering how the government can justify what, in effect, amounts to withholding money from a fund that I paid into all these years.
A. Go to to www.ssa.gov/pubs/10045.html for an explanation of why the law was enacted and how it is applied.
