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Social Security Fairness Act explained
Katie Brockman explains The Social Security Fairness Act here. Pending President Biden’s signature, it repeals two federal policies: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). WEP affects those who have worked long enough to qualify for Social Security benefits under one job but are also entitled to a workplace pension from a different job that doesn’t pay into Social Security. This includes some state and local government employees, such as teachers, postal workers, and police officers. You generally only need to work and pay Social Security taxes for 10 years to qualify for retirement benefits. However, if you’ve worked for fewer than 30 years in a job that entitles you to Social Security and you can receive a workplace pension, those benefits could be substantially reduced. GPO affects those who are entitled to spousal or survivors benefits as well as a workplace pension. Under GPO, your benefit could be reduced by 2/3 of what you’re collecting from your pension. Read more here.
What are the provisions for CSRS widows under the WEP?
Lola:
Thanks for the question. A widow receiving a federal CSRS pension is potentially impacted by both the WEP and GPO provisions of the law. If the widow has earned the required 40 quarters of coverage to establish her eligibility for a Social Security retirement benefit, the receipt of a non-covered CSRS federal pension would lower the retirement benefits because of WEP. In addition, the Social Security widow’s benefits would be impacted by GPO. The GPO provision would reduce any Social Security widow’s benefits by 2/3rd’s of a widow’s gross monthly CSRS federal pension. That often reduces the widow’s benefit to zero. The great news is that with the recent passage of HR82, WEP and GPO have been eliminated effective January 2024. That is means Americans who will soon see increases in their monthly Social Security benefits.
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Mark Hendelson
AMAC Foundation
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