Q. I am FERS and plan on retiring this year when turning 65. I will be eligible for Social Security but am wondering if my wife will be able to collect. She is disabled and was receiving benefits from the company she worked for until they went bankrupt. By getting her benefits from that company, nothing was paid in to Social Security for her to have enough quarters to qualify for SS disability. She will be 60 when I retire and I would like to find out if she will be able to use my Social Security benefit. A. She might…
Browsing: Government Pension Offset
Q. I recently retired from the federal government law enforcement and I am receiving a FERS Supplement until I turn 62 years of age. Does my military pension count against my supplement as it pertains to the earnings test? A. Your military pension does not count as earned income for earned income offset calculation.
Q. I had 12 years service under CSRS, a break of 13 years in the private sector, and have been a CSRS Offset employee since 2003. I understand that the government pension offset could reduce my wife’s Social Security spousal benefits by $2 for ever $3 I would receive from my CSRS annuity. Does this apply just to the annuity earned while a CSRS employee or the annuity I would receive for my total government service? Since she has earned her own Social Security benefit from non-government service, and I have 30 years of substantial earnings under Social Security, including the years…
Q. It is my understanding that once you have accumulated 30 years of substantial Social Security contributions your Social Security payments will not be reduced by your GPO. Is this true? A. This is not true. The GPO does not apply to your own Social Security benefit. It applies only to a Social Security survivor benefit, and it is not affected by your years of Substantial Earnings under Social Security. If your Social Security benefit is subject to the Windfall Elimination Provision, or WEP, the effect of the WEP is affected by the number of years of Substantial Earnings you…