I RETIRED FROM A LAW ENFORCEMENT JOB IN 2011 COLLECTING A PENSION WHICH INCREASES 3% COMPOUNDED EACH YEAR. WE DID NOT PAY SOCIAL SECURITY AT THIS JOB BUT I DID PAY SS AND EARNED ALL MY QUARTERS FROM WORKING PRIOR TO MY LAW ENFORCEMENT JOB AND PART TIME JOBS WHILE WORKING AS A COP. I WOULD BE AFFECTED BY THE FEDERAL PENALTIES FOR THIS PENSION
I HAVE NOW RETURNED TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT I ORIGINALLY STARTED AT IN 1979 WHERE I PAID INTO A PENSION AND SOCIAL SECURITY FOR FOUR YEARS. I HAVE JUST COMPLETELY ANOTHER FOUR YEARS WITH THIS DEPARTMENT AND CAN BUY BACK MY ORIGINAL FOUR YEARS FOR $24K. IF I DONT BUY BACK THE FOUR YEARS AND WERE TO RETIRE IN FOUR YEARS WHICH IS THE MINIMUM, THIS PENSION WOULD BE WORTH $750 A MONTH.
BUT IF I WERE TO BUY BACK THE FOUR YEARS AND RETIRE DEC 31, 2022 AT AGE 68 THE PENSION WOULD BE $15800 WITH A 3% RAISE EACH YEAR BASED UPON THE ORIGINAL $15800.
THE WIFE WAS A STAY AT HOME MOM ONCE THE KIDS CAME ALONG. SHE JUST GOT THE SS LETTER SAYING HER SS WOULD BE $700 IF SHE STARTED COLLECTING AT AGE 62 IN FEB 2018.
SO IM ASKING, IS HER SS GOIING TO BE AFFECTED BECAUSE OF MY NON SS COP JOB AND HOW BAD IS MY SS GOING TO AFFECTED BECAUSE OF MY COP JOB. I ONLY HAD 20 YEARS OF SUBSTANTIAL EARNINGS FOR OTHER JOBS WORKED BEFORE AND DURING MY COP JOB FROM WHICH I AM RETIRED. I WILL HAVE 24-28 YEARS DEPENDING ON WHEN I RETIRE FROM THIS COP JOB WHICH SHOULD NOT AFFECT THATY PENSION BECAUSE I PAID SS DURING THAT COP JOB.
THANK YOU,
MIKE

Hi Mike,

No, your wife's own retirement benefits won't be affected in any way by your pensions.

However, it sounds like your Social Security benefit rate will be calculated using the less generous formula mandated by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). Depending on your year of birth, the reduction resulting from the WEP provision can be as much as around $450, but a number of variables are involved. You can refer to this Social Security publication for more information on the WEP computation formula: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf.

Also, our maximization software is fully programmed to handle cases involving WEP, so you may want to strongly consider using it to do your retirement planning.

Best, Jerry