I retired a few years ago from the military after 20 years. Does the windfall elimination provision reduce my future Social Security benefits?
A number of factors could throw you under the provision, including how long and how much you paid into Social Security from your non-military employment over the years.
The answer to the question goes on quite a bit longer, but it remains confused and confusing.
The answer should have been simple. The person asking the question might be affected by the windfall elimination provision, but military service would have nothing to do with it, except to the very peripheral extent that military service was considered in determining some governmental pension based upon work not covered by Social Security. This foolish column will convince many people that the windfall elimination provision will prevent them from receiving Social Security benefits because of military retirement pay or VA benefits and that is not true.
The answer should have been simple. The person asking the question might be affected by the windfall elimination provision, but military service would have nothing to do with it, except to the very peripheral extent that military service was considered in determining some governmental pension based upon work not covered by Social Security. This foolish column will convince many people that the windfall elimination provision will prevent them from receiving Social Security benefits because of military retirement pay or VA benefits and that is not true.
1 comment:
That first part is a bit unclear, but never comes right out and says a military pension will cause the WEP to be applied.
The article explains the WEP fairly well farther down. About the only thing not mentioned is the WEP guarantee and I would have linked to the SSA WEP publication.
Plus says "There is a downloadable calculator available on the Social Security Web site that will do this for you, but using it can be cumbersome. As an alternative, people near retirement age can contact their local Social Security office for an estimate..."
So when in doubt hit your local SSA office.
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