I worked in the UK for 8 years and want to make sure I receive reciprocity when I start collecting Social Security soon. I paid UK taxes as a UK resident, and my Social Security summary records $0 in contributions for those years. How do I make sure that gets done right, please? Thank you.

Hi. I'm not sure what type of reciprocity you're expecting. Earnings on which you paid UK taxes and not U.S. Social Security taxes won't show up on your U.S. Social Security earnings history, nor will you receive any credit for your UK earnings when your U.S. benefits are calculated. If you don't have at least 40 quarters of U.S. Social Security coverage then your UK credits could potentially be used to make you eligible for a U.S. totalization benefit, but your UK earnings still wouldn't be used to calculate the benefit rate.

Any credit for your UK earnings would have to come in the form of benefits from the UK. If you do receive a pension from the UK, though, it could potentially cause your U.S. Social Security retirement benefit rate to be lowered. That's due to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). Refer to the following Social Security publication for more information on WEP: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf.

Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) is programmed to handle WEP calculations, so you may want to strongly consider using the software to fully analyze all of your options so that you can determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry