WEP

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Q. I have worked for the U.S. Postal Service for 43 years. I retired in 2011 with a CSRS pension. Prior to USPS, and afterwards, I worked under Social Security. I believe I have the required 40 quarters. Will the Windfall Elimination Program affect my getting Social Security and how will it affect my pension?

A. While the Windfall Elimination Provision will have no affect on your CSRS annuity, your Social Security benefit will be affected by it. The WEP reduces the Social Security benefit of anyone who is receiving an annuity from a retirement system – like CSRS – where they didn’t pay Social Security taxes and has fewer than thirty years of substantial earnings under Social Security. To see how the WEP will affect you, go to https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf.

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Reg Jones was head of retirement and insurance policy at the Office of Personnel Management. Email your retirement-related questions to fedexperts@federaltimes.com.

7 Comments

      • I retired from the military with 21 years of service. I have been with USPS for 15 years. I am currently 62 . Does my military service have any weight on my USPS retirement eligibility.

        • No, it doesn’t unless you make a deposit to get credit for that time and, when you retire, waive your military retired pay.

        • No, your military service doesn’t carry any weight on your retirement eligibility. The only way you could get credit for that time in determining your years of civilian service would be to make a deposit to the civilian retirement system and, at retirement, waive your military retired pay.

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