I have a small pension (approx 1,000 a month) from the City Of Newton and get $208.00 from social security. The WEP takes the majority of my social security. I am almost 66 and 2 months…wondering if I can take my spousal benefit from Social Security to increase my very paltry income. I went to social security several times before the pandemic. It was confusing and what I ended up with “someone at the office” said was the best I could do. I have been unable to get a response to this question from them. Just wondering if you know.

Thanks in advance.

Hi. Possibly. If your wife is drawing her Social Security benefits and if her primary insurance amount (PIA) is more twice as much as your PIA, then you could at least technically qualify for a spousal benefit. A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA). However, it sounds like any spousal amount for which you'd qualify would be offset by 2/3rds of the amount of your city pension. That's due to the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf).

Therefore, you likely couldn't actually be paid any spousal benefits unless your spousal rate is more than 2/3rds of the amount of your city pension. Your unreduced spousal rate before any offset or reduction for age would be calculated by subtracting your PIA from 50% of your spouse's PIA.

Best, Jerry