hi Larry, this might be a tough one. I paid into SS years 1972-1979 and then exempt (minister's exemption) from 1980-2013 and then retired in 2014 and began working a secular job and paying in again in order to get my 40 quarters for medicare, and I have succeeded. However, on my SS account, my earnings record showed my church, unbeknownst to me paid SS taxes in 1994, 95, 99. So my question is 2 fold, a. Will these years of paying that the church made on my behalf count and b. Will I receive any SS based on these years and other years of covered working? They are reviewing my application as we speak and they also asked for "proof" of my Guidestone Retirement 403b 9 estimate of monthly income that I haven't started receiving yet. I assume for WEP purposes? Thanks, Ray

Hi Ray. As long as you have at least 40 quarters (QC) of Social Security credits, you can qualify for Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62. Even if your 403(b) plan causes your benefit rate to be reduced due to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), that provision never causes a person's benefit rate to be reduced to zero.

If your former employer paid Social Security taxes on your earnings back in the 1990s and they reported those earnings to Social Security, then you should receive credit for those earnings when counting your QCs and calculating your benefit rate. Even if it was a mistake for your employer to have paid Social Security taxes on your earnings in those years, the statute of limitations would bar removal of those earnings from your earnings record. Unless an exception is met, the statute of limitations bars correction of a person's earnings history after 3 years, 3 months and 15 days have passed since the end of the year in question. And, it doesn't sound to me like any of the possible exceptions (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0302201008) to the statute were involved in your case.

Best, Jerry