I worked 80 credits prior to starting with a non contributing employer. My benefit is based on those years and income, no credits show for the years outside the system.
I worked. I and my employers paid into the system. I don’t see how a benefit based on those criteria should be considered a windfall.

So the correct solution is dissolve SS all together.

quote:

Originally posted by DetonicsMk6:

quote:

Originally posted by B92F:
Here are some actual figures based on my personal work history.

My 2019 social security statement says that based on my work history starting in 1973, my expected benefit amount at age 66 and 2 months was $1,196.00/month which could also be reduced due to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).

When I retired in February 2021 at age 66 and 2 months, my actual benefit was, due to the WEP act, $802.00/month. A $394.00/month decrease. In my 48 years of working there were only 10 years where no social security taxes were taken out.

I and probably most of those impacted by the WEP are not asking, and do not want any benefits we are not entitled to. But that extra $394.00/month certainty isn't a "windfall" and would come in handy.

Exactly correct. We don't want benefits we didn't earn, we just don't want to be penalized because we also have a pension from a non-contributing government employer.

So is your total payment from Uncle Sam (SS plus free pension) less than the max SS benefits you'd could get if you worked at normal job and paid FICA the entire time? If the answer is yes, then I'd support making your total pension + SS equal to the max SS benefits. Otherwise you aren't being punished, you just aren't getting something you didn't pay for.

Honestly you should consider yourself lucky to be 'penalized' that 7.5% of your salary you got to keep instead of funding a ponzi scheme is worth way more than anything you could ever possibly receive from SS. If I could find a way to make that deal to be 'penalized' I would take it any day and twice on Sunday.

“Why we use a different formula:
Before 1983, people whose primary job wasn’t covered
by Social Security had their Social Security benefits
calculated as if they were long-term, low-wage workers.
They had the advantage of receiving a Social Security
benefit that represented a higher percentage of their
earnings. They also had a pension from a job for which
they didn’t pay Social Security taxes. Congress passed
the WEP to remove that advantage.” Social Security Windfall Elimination Provision

What I’m understanding is that if you were a low-wage worker for the entirety of your working career, Social Security uses a different calculation the for a high-wage worker which results in a lower benefit for the high-wage worker than a low-wage worker. Some people, by not working for an employer paying into SS, were having their SS benefits calculated as low-wage workers because the calculation didn’t take into account all the wages those people earned during the years they worked for non-SS paying employers. The WEP corrects that and those people get the same benefit they would have been entitled to as if they had worked for SS paying employers their entire working career.

Seems fair to me.

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
So the correct solution is dissolve SS all together.

What the fuck are you talking about?

quote:

If I could find a way to make that deal to be 'penalized' I would take it any day and twice on Sunday.

To be fair, you had that opportunity and didn't take advantage of it.