I withdrew from the Louisiana Teachers Retirement System and moved into the ORP in 1993. My wife and I are both at Full Retirement Age. Our plan is for her to file for her SS benefits and for me to apply for spousal benefits. I will delay receiving benefits from my ORP until age 70 1/2 which will then trigger the WEP reduction on the SS benefit I receive. Will the GPO be a factor in this plan?

Hi,

Under normal rules for the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision, spousal benefits are not subject to any GPO offset until they start receiving the government pension. However, determining the start date of the 'pension' can be different when a defined contribution plan is involved as opposed to a traditional pension plan.

According to the following section of Social Security's operations manual (POMS), though, you would be not be subject to GPO until you receive your first distribution from the ORP plan: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0202608100DAL. So, assuming that you will have switched from spousal benefits to retirement benefits on your own record prior to receiving your first ORP distribution, it doesn't sound like GPO would be a factor in your case. However, if the retirement plan to which you are referring is different than the one described in this POMS section, then I would need to know more details in order to be able give you an answer.

You and your wife may want to strongly consider using our maximization software in order to determine your best overall plan for claiming your Social Security benefits. The software is fully programmed to handle both WEP and GPO considerations.

Best, Jerry