Q. My ex-wife will receive a portion of my CSRS annuity as ordered by our divorce settlement. Since she was not a federal employee is her share of the annuity subject to the windfall elimination provision? Mine will be, but since her share will come directly to her from the Office of Personnel Management is her share also subject to the WEP?
A. No, it isn’t.
4 Comments
I think there’s some confusion here. The WEP affects the Social Security payment you get, not your CSRS pension (or your ex-wife’s part of that). https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf
If you were CSRS-Offset, then your CSRS pension would be reduced by whatever amount of SS you earned while under the Offset portion of the retirement system. You would also be subject to the WEP, which affects your SS payment, unless you paid 30 years of Substantial Earnings into SS. So, you would have both your CSRS pension and your SS reduced, if you were CSRS-Offset without 30 years of substantial SS earnings.
I am confused. To change this around some.. I have 16-1/2 years of CSRS, then 20-month break in service, came back in FERS in 1993 and still employed. Plan to retire at end of 2018 so will have over 25 years of FERS. I did not draw out any CSRS contributions at time of break in service. I have been told I have will 2 components in the calculation of my pension. So not sure what you mean by CSRS pension be reduced by SS earned under other system above. Or, does that not apply to my situation? I wish I had been under Offset but was not. I will have 27 years of “substantial” social security benefits and I know my SS will be reduced by $122 per month. That is my first question. My 2nd one is if I apply under the “restricted application for Soc Sec under my ex-spouse, will my benefit be reduced? If so, how is it calculated? I would like to wait until age 70 to draw my Social Security under my earnings. I am so confused by this. Just heard about this rule today and I was born prior to 1954. Thanks for any guidance you can give me.
To find out how the windfall elimination provision would affect you, go to https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf.
When you came back to work as a Federal employee, you should have been offered a choice as FERS or CSRS Offset. If you were not, you can contact HR and inform them you should be CSRS Offset. They have to allow you to change, if you were not offered the choice. There would be paperwork in your eOPF showing the choice.