Hello Larry,

I am a UK Citizen. I retired last year at age 60 after working in the US since 2004. I have now given up my US residency and am living in the UK and Australia. I am eligible for Social Security and am now trying to understand how my UK state pension ( for which I am also eligible) will affect my social security payments.

Is it true to say that if I elect to take my social security at age 62 WEP will not apply until I start receiving my UK State pension at age 66?

How much will my social security payment be reduced by taking the UK state pension?

Many Thanks

Clive

Hi Clive,

Yes, it's true that WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) doesn't apply until a person becomes entitled to their non-covered pension. In most cases, becoming 'entitled to' a pension means filing an application for and starting to receive the pension (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0300605360).

There are too many variables involved for me to be able to tell you how much your UK pension would reduce your Social Security benefit amount, but it shouldn't reduce it by more than roughly half of the amount of your UK pension (https://www.ssa.gov/retirementpolicy/program/windfall-elimination-provis...). Our maximization software is fully programmed to handle cases involving WEP, so you may want to use it in order to determine your best overall strategy for claiming benefits.

Best, Jerry