Will Collecting a Public Pension Reduce Your Social Security?

Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz
Tue, 15 Jun 2021 21:00:00 -0700
Lifestyle

Dear Carrie, I'm retiring soon with a pension that's outside of the Social Security system. I've also earned enough credits from earlier employment to qualify for Social Security benefits. I know my benefits will be reduced because of Windfall Elimination/Pension Offset reductions. Are there any strategies to minimize these reductions? Is there any reason to delay filing for Social Security? If it matters, my wife is also eligible for benefits under her own work record. — A Reader

Dear Reader, This is a tough question to answer, primarily because the Windfall Elimination Provision/Government Pension Offset rules present one of the more technical areas of Social Security planning. The formulas determining reductions are complex, and a lot depends on your individual situation.

So my first recommendation is to consult with a financial advisor or accountant who specializes in Social Security benefits. While it is not possible to avoid the WEP/GPO reductions, there are things for you to consider regarding the best time to apply for benefits, so it is important to understand your options. Before we get into those specifics, however, let's first review the basics of both the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset.
Updated: Wed Jun 16, 2021

Dear Carrie, I'm retiring soon with a pension that's outside of the Social Security system. I've also earned enough credits from earlier employment to qualify for Social Security benefits. I know my benefits will be reduced because of Windfall Elimination/Pension Offset reductions. Are there any strategies to minimize these reductions? Is there any reason to delay filing for Social Security? If it matters, my wife is also eligible for benefits under her own work record. — A Reader

Dear Reader, This is a tough question to answer, primarily because the Windfall Elimination Provision/Government Pension Offset rules present one of the more technical areas of Social Security planning. The formulas determining reductions are complex, and a lot depends on your individual situation.

So my first recommendation is to consult with a financial advisor or accountant who specializes in Social Security benefits. While it is not possible to avoid the WEP/GPO reductions, there are things for you to consider regarding the best time to apply for benefits, so it is important to understand your options. Before we get into those specifics, however, let's first review the basics of both the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset.

This provision affects people like you who have earned a pension in the public sector that didn't require paying Social Security taxes and also worked in the private sector long enough to qualify for Social Security benefits. State and local governments may opt out of the Social Security retirement system by providing their own retirement plans. On the surface, it sounds like the best of both worlds. Unfortunately, it doesn't work exactly that way because when you collect a public pension from employment when you weren't paying into Social Security, your Social Security benefits may be reduced.

The amount of the WEP reduction depends on a number of factors, including how long you worked in the private sector vs. the public sector, the amount of your pension and Social Security benefit, and how much you earned. If, for instance, you paid Social Security taxes for more than 20 years and had what the Social Security Administration determines to be "substantial earnings," your benefit reduction would likely be less than someone who paid taxes for fewer years and earned less. However, if you paid Social Security taxes for more than 30 years, there's no reduction at all.

The GPO applies to those who collect a public pension and also are eligible for Social Security spousal or survivor benefits. Normal spousal benefits are 50 percent of a spouse's benefit taken at Full Retirement Age. Normal survivor benefits are 100 percent of the decedent's Social Security benefit. Essentially, GPO reduces these benefits by two-thirds of your non-covered government pension.

How these provisions apply to you and how they may affect your timing for collecting Social Security benefits is where it gets highly individualized and goes way beyond the scope of this column. Just to give you an idea, here are some things an advisor would want to discuss with you:

—The age difference between you and your wife

—The amount of the WEP/GPO reduction

—Life expectancy for both you and your wife

—The amount of your individual Social Security benefits relative to one another

—The type of pension you have and the survivor benefit it offers

Part of your discussion will involve the pros and cons of taking your benefits now or waiting until later. For instance, on the one hand, your Social Security benefit will increase by 6 to 8 percent each year you delay collecting between your full retirement age and age 70 — even if it is reduced because of the WEP. This could mean a healthy increase in your own benefit as well as in survivor benefits. On the other hand, if your adjusted benefit is considerably smaller than that of your spouse, you might be just as well off collecting earlier.

As with so much that has to do with Social Security timing, there's no easy, one-size-fits- all answer. And that's especially true when it comes to WEP/GPO. My recommendation is to use this information as a starting point, and then sit down with an advisor who can put it all together for your specific financial circumstances.

Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, Certified Financial Planner, is president of the Charles Schwab Foundation and author of "The Charles Schwab Guide to Finances After Fifty," available in bookstores nationwide. Read more at http://schwab.com/book. You can email Carrie at askcarrie@schwab.com. This column is no substitute for individualized tax, legal or investment advice. Where specific advice is necessary or appropriate, consult with a qualified tax adviser, CPA, financial planner or investment manager. To find out more about Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.