Q: I recently read that the GPO/WEP repeal issue was tabled for 2010 and somehow attached to the health care bill. Do you have any current information on this? A: No action has been taken on that bill. And no, it didn’t get attached to the health care bill.
Browsing: WEP
Q: I am receiving compensation for Loss of Wage Earning Capacity from the federal Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs. I expect to receive this compensation for the rest of my life due to a severe and permanent injury. Even though I was approved for federal CSRS Disability Retirement through the Office of Personnel Management, I never have, or expect to, receive any pension annuities because I choose OWCP compensation in lieu of any disability pension annuities. I will also be eligible to receive Social Security retirement benefits in the future due to other employment. When I apply for these benefits,…
Q: I have 37 years of service under the CSRS and I am thinking about retiring in 2011 when I am 59 years old. I have more than 40 quarters of work completed with Social Security. Can I receive a Social Security benefit when I retire at 59, and how much will it be for a GS-13/10? A: No, you can’t. The earliest age you could receive a Social Security benefit would be 62. When applying for a Social Security benefit, there are two points to keep in mind. First, that benefit will be a reduced one if you are under…
Q. To figure how much the windfall elimination provision will affect one’s Social Security benefit, it is necessary to know the amount of the “noncovered pension.” How does one figure this amount? Is it simply a percentage? For example, if I worked 12 years as a CSRS employee (noncovered) and 24 years as a CSRS Offset employee covered by Social Security, is the noncovered portion of the CSRS pension simply 33 percent of the full pension or is there a more complication formula? A. I think you’re making hard work out of this. Your CSRS annuity will be calculated using…
Q. The windfall elimination provision and government pension offset are so difficult to understand. Can you help? My husband will soon be retiring at age 62 after 21 years under FERS. I am 52, but hope to leave service ahead of retirement. I currently have the following: * 52 quarters of substantial Social Security contributions, including three years under CSRS Offset. * Three years under CSRS Offset (2007-2009). * 12 years under FSPS (Pre-1983 Foreign Service Retirement system) (1982-1994). * Seven years under an international employer where I did not pay Social Security (1994-1999; 2005-2007) Can you help me determine…
Q. What are the chances of this outright government theft of our hard-earned Social Security benefits — the windfall elimination provision — being moved forward, through both houses of Congress, repealed and how soon? A. The chances are the same as they’ve been for years, not that hot. One reason is that your reason for eliminating it is unsound. Before the law was changed in 1983, employees who worked in jobs not covered by Social Security, such as CSRS, had their benefits computed as if they were long-term, low-wage workers. As a result, they received the advantage of a higher…
Q. I am retired from the postal service as a CSRS employee. I had already worked for private agencies and paid in enough quarters (40) and over to draw my Social Security before I ever started working for the federal government. However, even though these quarters were earned prior to any federal employment, my Social Security check has an offset on it. I have been told by a Social Security attorney that this should not have been done. Is this correct? A. Your Social Security benefit wasn’t offset. It was reduced because of the windfall elimination provision of law. The…
Q. I have recently retired under CSRS-Offset at 68 with 23 years of substantial earnings under Social Security. Before I retired I was receiving Social Security Survivors Benefits from my spouse work record in private industry. Will the windfall elimination provision affect the Survivors Benefit? A. The windfall elimination provision doesn’t apply to Social Security survivor benefits. The government pension offset does. However, because you were covered by CSRS Offset for at least five years, it doesn’t apply to you. Your survivor benefits won’t be affected.
Q. I have over 30 years of substantial earnings under Social Security. My spouse has 20 years of substantial earnings under Social Security. She also falls under the windfall elimination provision (WEP) because she is an educator and will receive a pension. My benefits are such that if she accepts the spousal benefit, rather than her own, it will be higher than her regular payment. That would then be subject to WEP. But, since I have over 30 years of substantial earnings, should she be eligible for the full spousal benefit? If she had over 30 years she would receive…
Q: What is the status of the legislation regarding doing away with the significant penalty the federal government retirees incur when becoming eligible to draw, if any, Social Security benefits? A: I assume that you are asking about the windfall elimination provision, which reduces the Social Security benefit of anyone receiving an annuity — in whole or part — from a retirement system where he didn’t pay Social Security taxes and has fewer than 30 years of substantial earnings covered by Social Security. The short answer is that bills to modify or repeal that provision have stalled in both houses…