I will have two foreign pensions when I retire and I have a basic understanding of the WEP rules, what is unclear is whether i would get hit by WEP twice (once for each pension) or just the one time. I would appreciate any information on this I have searched extensively and cannot find that level of detail. Thank you.

Hi,

The only way that receipt of two different non-Social Security covered pensions instead of just one would make the effects of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) worse is if you qualified for the WEP guarantee. The WEP guarantee basically limits the amount of the Social Security benefit reduction resulting from WEP to no more than half of the amount of the non-covered pension(s).

Otherwise, if your Social Security retirement benefit rate is calculated using the modified WEP formula then it wouldn't matter whether you receive just one or any number of non-covered pensions (https://www.ssa.gov/retirementpolicy/program/windfall-elimination-provis...).

By the way, our maximization software is programmed to handle WEP calculations, so you may want to consider using it to explore your Social Security options.

Best, Jerry