I am a US citizen. I will have 30 years of earnings in the US and 5 years of substantial earnings in Switzerland. Can I collect social security payments from both countries? The Swiss age for full retirement Is 64 while in the US for me it is 67. Can I collect my Swiss benefit at 64 but wait until 67 or 70 to collect my US benefit? And do I file for my Swiss benefit through the US social security office? Many thanks in advance for your insights!

Hi,

My expertise is limited to U.S. Social Security benefits, so I can't tell you whether or not you might qualify for benefits from Switzerland. The U.S. Social Security program does have a totalization agreement with Switzerland, though, so if you don't have enough Swiss work credits to qualify for a regular Swiss benefit, they may be able to give you credit for your U.S. work in order to make you eligible for a totalization benefit. For more information on the totalization agreement between the U.S. and Switzerland, refer to the following Social Security publication: https://www.ssa.gov/international/Agreement_Pamphlets/switzrld.html.

If you qualify for benefits from Switzerland, you'd be free to file for those benefits and wait to claim your U.S. benefits until later. And, yes, since the U.S. has a totalization agreement with Switzerland you could file an application for Swiss benefits at a U.S. Social Security office. U.S. offices can't actually process an application for Swiss benefits, but they could assist you with filing a claim and then forward your claim on to the Swiss program for processing.

You clearly have enough U.S. credits to be able to qualify for regular Social Security retirement benefits, so your work in Switzerland won't be used by the U.S. Social Security program when you file for your benefits here. If Switzerland must credit your U.S. work in order to make you eligible for a Swiss totalization benefit, then receipt of that type of benefit wouldn't adversely affect the amount of your U.S. benefits. However, if you qualify for regular Swiss benefit based on your Swiss work alone, then receipt of that type of benefit could cause your U.S. Social Security retirement benefit rate to be lowered due to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). However, if you have at least 30 years of U.S. Social Security earnings classified as 'substantial' based on WEP guidelines, then you would be exempt from any WEP reduction (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf).

Best, Jerry