My dad passed away in December 2019. My mom (now 82) worked a bit during her life but dad was the "bread winner" so to speak. We were under the impression that when dad passed, my mom would get the higher of their two social security monthly payments. However, my mom was notified recently that the government would be docking her payment by $1000/mo because she is "eligible for a government pension". She has no idea what this means. My dad worked for IBM for 35 years and has an IBM pension. She gets $560 a month now from that. After retirement my dad worked for the school system and got a NY Teachers Association pension but when he passed, my mom received notification that she was not eligible to continue receiving that monthly payment. She also says they paid taxes on that pension every year. She grew up in Scotland and lived there until she was 20 and worked a bit. As a result she gets $75/month from the British government as a pension (so $900/year). My dad's social security check each month was $2200. They are telling my mom she gets $1200 now. She is in shock! We have filed the "Reconsideration" form with SSA. But we have no idea what they are talking about when they say she is eligible for a government pension. Even if it is the check from the UK, how can they justify docking her $12K per year for a lousy $900? Has anyone ever heard of this kind of thing or run into this? If so, what was the result? Do we need to hire a lawyer?
THANKS!
You might consider signing up at www.bogleheads.org and posting your question there. Lots of financial expertise.
It was HIS ss that should have been subject to WEP, I think. I am so NOT an expert on this!
Im hoping your SS person can explain this better and can clarify what they mean when they say"govt pension".
Heres another useful site:
https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/does-wep-affect-spousal-benefits
As I said, you will find genuine SS expertise on bogleheads. Good luck with your SS agent. Please make sure that s/he explains it so that you absolutely understand why mom's benefits are being reduced. Make sure they know that it is you understanding that mom is NOT getting the NYSUT pension. I wonder if she actually IS a beneficiary of that?
There is also GPO (Government Pension Offset) referenced above on the Bogleheads site.
More on the GPO and WEP:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_Government_Pension_Offset
A person has worked for the government and earned the right to a pension. Then goes to work where SS is taken out of their pay, and earns the right to a pension. SS can only calculate earnings on the job that he paid into SS. So whatever earnings he received in that government job doesn't count towards his SS quarters. ?
My question here is, wasn't that all calculated in when Dad received his SS? Why would then Mom be penalized? I think SS is assuming she is receiving the teacher pension and she isn't. She needs to prove that.
In my opinion, Dads SS should have been based on his IBM earnings. As such, that government pension doesn't come into play? SS is not based on how many pensions you receive. Its based on the earnings you made that SS was deducted for. So Mom's SS drops off and she collects Dads. Or you look at it as, Mom is already receiving half of Dads, 1100, and when he passed, she gets the other half = 2200
I am just thinking here. I am not saying this is so.