I have a city of Birmingham pension and we didn’t pay into social security during working years. I worked other jobs that paid into SS during my working years. I was told I would not receive full SS because of the windfall law or another law. Why?

Hi. The reason why it sounds like your Social Security retirement benefit rate will be lowered is because of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). The WEP was passed into Social Security law by Congress in 1983, and since then people who receive both Social Security retirement or disability (SSDI) benefits and a pension based on their earnings that were exempt from Social Security taxes can have their Social Security benefits calculated using an alternate, less generous, formula. For more detailed information about WEP and it's exceptions refer to the following Social Security website: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/wep.html.

Best, Jerry