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Congratulations on your impending retirement!! How exciting. Of those dates, I would pick June 30. That way your annuity begins to accrue the very next day (1 July) and you’re eligible for payment the first of that following month (1 August). That also puts you right at 6 months (50%) for COLA.

Correct. Yes, you can apply for benefits under your spouse’s record.

The law signed on 1/5/2025 states that “for people already receiving benefits, the increase will be retroactive to December 2023.” www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/social-security-fairness-act.html?tl=1%2C2%2C3%2C4%2C10

I don't want to assume you know - - WEP and GPO have both been repealed under the Social Security Fairness Act, signed on 5 January 2025.

With the repeal of both the WEP and GPO, you are eligible to receive your own Social Security benefit without WEP applied, or up to 50% of your ex spouses based upon that person‘s earned benefit. It is the higher of the two. You should contact the Social Security Administration .

Hi Randy. Thank you for the nice compliment. I’m glad you found the video helpful. Yes, if you are eligible, you can retire tomorrow. Your agency nor the officer personnel management will rush your paperwork through so you may find your waiting a little while to start receiving your annuity payments. However, yes, people do decide short notice that they are going to retire.

@@debbiehatch8016 Thanks Debbie!

Yes, Rey. Then you must complete Schedule B. Check yes to 1A, yes to 1B (attach a copy of your military retirement letter), no to 1C and 1D.

@debbiehatch8016 thank you!

@ Hi Debbie, one more thing. On 1A it says Answer "yes" if you are receiving payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs instead of military retired pay. Should it be 'No' since it is not from Department of Veterans?

@@reymendoza1798correct. In the past, some people had to waive all or a portion of their military retirement to get VA benefits.

@@LucrettaAkers-i7s oh my gosh. Laws take time to be implemented. It takes time to write regulations. This is complicated - it impacts The SSA, OPM and even IRS. Maybe others too. It’s taken 40 years for the law to be repealed.

If you didn’t qualify for those benefits because of the government pension offset, yes. www.ssa.gov/apply

I don’t know if it’s going to apply to you or not, either. Do you also get a pension from a job that didn’t pay into SS? If so, this might apply. If you only get SS and nothing else, this does not apply.

Thank you for the compliment. Whether it is a lump sum retroactive payment or some additional amount added over a period of time, I do not know. They are working on processes and regulations right now. Stay tuned.

I understand. I’m saying if she is receive any benefit (which she is) and her record shows she is married to you (which it should), it may be automatically taken care of. It certainly doesn’t hurt to reapply. It may not be necessary.

@@debbiehatch8016 Debbie, thank you for your help here. I believe that we will wait for the dust to settle, then make a decision. I really appreciate your insight!! dick

@@Rathman150 The SSA states that because your wife is receiving a financial benefit, she should merely ensure her information is up-to-date in the system. We each receive our own benefit or up to 50% of our spouse’s, whichever is higher. www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/social-security-fairness-act.html

No one knows the answer to that Mike. The law was signed not even two weeks ago. It is going to take some time for the SSA, OPM, and even IRS to write implementing regulations.

@debbiehatch8016 thank you

Steve, Your time from 67-77 was most definitely CSRS. I understand Workers' Comp and then medical retirement - again, from CSRS. Getting 40 credits was enough to make you eligible to receive SS but does not figure into your computation. The computation was discussed in the video. Step I: Compute the AIME. This is your highest 35 years of paying into SS over your work record. If you didn't have 35 years, they would include an zeros in order to add 35 things together. Divide the total by 420. THEN, Step II: Plug that AIM into 3 lines of computation. For 2025, 90% X the first 1,226 of your AIME (this would have been less than 90% for you, because of your CSRS, prior to the repeal) plus 32% X the next 6,165 of your AIME and 15% of everything over the top of 7,391 from your AIME. You will see an increase. I can't tell you how much it's going to be. The average expected increase is $360. You may not be average.

Debra, there's no "Windfall profit" - it was a penalty. The WEP decreased the amount of Social Security that a person got on their own record IF they worked under a system like CSRS but also worked somewhere else and got their 40 credits. WEP did not apply to you so it's repeal doesn't either. The other penalty has been the Government Pension Offset (GPO). This affected one's ability to collect on a spouse's or ex spouse's record. Prior to the repeal, had you tried to collect on your ex's record any money you were entitled to would have first had 2/3rds of your monthly CSRS pension subtracted from it. This was not a good thing for you. It too has been repealed. Now you will be able to collect on your spouse's record; prior to this repeal, even though you were told you would be able to, you would NOT have been able to.

@@rosetillman958 Yes. WEP and GPO have been repealed. You’re very welcome, Rose.

Hi Patsy. Yes. As a CSRS offset employee, potentially in a couple of ways. First, your Social Security should increase if you didn’t have 30 years of substantial earnings under that program. Second, your offset is based upon a percentage of your Social Security benefit. That means if your Social Security increases, there is a chance that your CSRS offset amount could increase as well. It may be that your Social Security increases and your CSRS pension decreases. We are waiting for the SSA,OPM, and even the IRS to write implementing regulations. www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf

You’re very welcome.

You should see an increase in your SS with passage of this law. You say you paid in for 23 years (I don’t know if those were “substantial years” or not. Assuming they were - 23 years has a multiplier of 55% in the first line of computation. That line of computation will now go up to 90%. You will continue to have a penalty for drawing early, that does not go away. www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf

You and everyone else…. I don’t have an answer to that question. No one does.

You are very welcome. I’m glad you found the video helpful.

Thank you so much. I’m glad the video was helpful. I’m encouraged to hear your positive feedback.

This doesn’t provide benefits to people who don’t qualify for Social Security. All it does is remove a penalty that previously existed. That penalty was imposed against people who worked in jobs not paying into Social Security, but who also earned their 40 credits and therefore were eligible. Are you paying into Social Security in your cafeteria job? If so, the penalty did not apply, and therefore its repeal will not have an impact either. If you are not paying into Social Security, but you do have 40 credits, then this will be applicable to you.

Thank you

Because you worked for 10 years and paid into Social Security, you are eligible for that small benefit. Because you worked for the government in a job that did not pay into Social Security, the windfall elimination provision has penalized you. That is now going away. Yes, you can expect to see your Social Security increase.You say your husband paid into Social Security… I assume he did not work in a job where he did not contribute. If that is true, he will see no change.

If you’re already collecting, SS will do the recalculation. Any - and all laws - can be changed, at any time, by Congress. That’s always true.

@@debbiehatch8016 it should be retroactive from the day you could have received benefits

I received this very same comment multiple times. I responded to the other one, but let me do that here as well. You should not have to do anything, Social Security should make the adjustment when the law is ready to be applied. That said, of course, pay attention to the Social Security website and if you don’t hear anything from them over the next few months, you may want to contact them. This law, like any other law, and at any time, can be changed by an act of Congress. It is not uncommon for one administration to pass new laws in place of or overturning laws that previous administration’s passed.

Thank you very much. Two things, Tom. First, AIME. Highest 35 years of paying in - including any zeros so that you have 35 things to add (eg 17 dollar amounts and 18 zeros). Divide by 420. Then the computation of PIA: With WEP, 20 or less has been 40% in the first line (1,226 this year); it will now be 90%.

The spousal Social Security benefit is “up to 50%“. It’s not a guaranteed 50%. Additionally, because you did not draw until you were over the age of 70, you receive more than 100% of your Social Security benefit. A spouse can never receive more than half of the 100% benefit. This is likely why your wife’s benefit is only 41% versus 50. If your benefit increases - and it will, unless you already had 30 years of substantial earnings under Social Security - then her benefit would increase as well. Her percentage won’t go up, but her dollar amount will.

Thanks for reaching out Jeff. I don’t run the SSA and don’t even work for them. I am a federal retirement specialist who teaches that, SS, and a variety of other things. If you have questions about your benefits, I recommend contacting the Social Security Administration. They are not in this stream.

You’re very welcome. I’m so glad you found the video helpful.

The SSA is a bit overwhelmed at the moment. I talked to a teacher this evening who was on hold for over 90 minutes before she just gave up. I recommend making sure your records are up to date through My Social Security Security as we wait for implementing regulations. www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/social-security-fairness-act.html

Even without this repeal, because you said, “I worked enough part-time jobs to qualify for Social Security” you can draw once you are 62 or older. As a CSRS employee, the WEP would have impacted you. With the repeal, yes, this new change benefits you. You will no longer have a penalty for WEP. You will still have a penalty for age if you draw/drew early.

No. Every person's SS benefit is based on that person's highest 35 years of paying in - or based upon their spouse's highest 35 years of paying in. Then, that is plugged into 3 lines of computation (90% / 32% / 15%). What the repeal of WEP is going, is making that first line of the computation 90% for everyone versus what it has been (40-90%). People receiving a pension from a job that did not participate in SS have had a financial penalty. That is what's going away; that is the only thing that is changing. If one person earned / paid in for 20 years - they would have 20 years of $ amounts and 15 years of zero for their highest 35. If another person earned / paid in for 30 years - they would have 30 years of $ amounts and 5 years of zero for their highest 35. This is before the formula computations are applied. They would NOT have the same AIME for Social Security; it would. As that's true, they would not be receiving the same SS benefit either.

@ Thank you.

Why do things have to be so confusing? That’s an excellent question. Correct me if I’m wrong - you only had a total of 15 SS credits? Not 40. If that’s true, you don’t qualify for SA and this does not apply to you. Please do understand as well, I am NOT a RR retirement expert. I’ve worked with it very little.

@@debbiehatch8016 Thank you. I appreciate your help

David, I don’t know specifically what OPERS is but I’m assuming a state retirement that didn’t pay into SS. Is that correct? If you paid into SS for 25 years (22 private and 3 military) your maximum WEP penalty this year would be $490.40.

Ohio public employees retirement system. No social security taken out. 22 years altogether including military service. Is that figure for a month or year. Thank you in advance 😊

@@DavidHess-w7q per month. With 22 vs 25 (sorry I didn’t realize you’d already added in your military time so I added it again) the max penalty is $613.40

Thank you for watching. I gave two different examples. Which high 3 will be used depends on how long the person stayed after the pay raise. It is any consecutive (it must be consecutive) three years when the person had the highest basic pay. In one of my examples, the person stayed longer which resulted in the number being higher. I also need to redo this video to make it more current.

No one knows the answer to that questions yet, Emily. Implementing regulations need to be written by the SSA, OPM, and even the IRS. This is complicated and far reaching - they're working on it. Stay tuned to the SSA website for more information as it becomes available.

No one knows the answer to that question just yet. When your Social Security benefit increases, it may also drive an additional reduction from your CSRS offset since that is based upon a percentage of your Social Security benefit. It may not. We have to wait for the SSA and OPM to write implementing regulations before we know. Stay tuned.