Just want to agree with the comments above saying each year over 20 reduces the WEP penalty by 5%. My husband's situation was almost identical to yours - teacher pension then work under Social Security. Make SURE you keep proof of your earnings each year, especially for years you're right around the substantial earnings threshold. The SSA made a mistake on one of my husband's years and it took months to fix.

has anyone here had luck getting wep completely eliminated? my neighbor said after 30 yrs of work under SS they removed his wep completely?

Depends on what your goals are. I went to one of those seminars last year and yeah, it was clearly trying to get me to sign up for financial planning services, but I actually learned a few things about how SS calculates the benefits that I didn't know before. I just said no thanks to the sales pitch at the end and went home with the useful info. Free dinner too lol

To answer your specific question about how much your benefit might increase from part-time work: it varies widely based on your earnings history, but I can give you a rough idea. Let's say you're earning about $30,000 annually from your part-time accounting work. If that income replaces a year in your top 35 where you earned significantly less (or even a year with zero earnings), you might see a monthly benefit increase of $15-40 per month. That's about a 0.5-1.5% increase based on your current benefit amount. Small? Yes. But that's an extra $180-480 per year for the rest of your life, with annual COLA increases applied to that higher amount. Over 20+ years of retirement, that can add up to thousands of extra dollars. And no, there's no form to fill out. The SSA does this recomputation automatically every year after your earnings are reported (usually after you file your tax return). Any increase will be retroactive to January of the year following the work year.

my freind tole me that SS benefits have a maximum amount maybe u both hit the max?

After looking at all the responses, I think this is just one of those strange coincidences that can happen with the complex Social Security formula. Since multiple SSA representatives have confirmed your amounts are correct, and others here have experienced similar situations, I wouldn't worry about it. If it gives you peace of mind, you could schedule an in-person appointment at your local SSA office where they can pull up both records and show you the detailed calculations side by side. But it sounds like everything is working as intended, just with an unusual outcome!

my dad got hung up on twice last month trying to deal with his GPO situation its like they dont want to help csrs people

To update on your specific question - yes, most SSA offices will help you with a walk-in, but be prepared for significant wait times. For establishing a protective filing date related to WEP/GPO specifically, I recommend: 1. Bring your CSRS pension documentation 2. Bring both your and your wife's SS cards and IDs 3. Have a simple written statement explaining you want to establish a protective filing date for spousal benefits in anticipation of potential legislative changes 4. Arrive first thing in the morning (ideally 30+ minutes before opening) 5. Be polite but firm about needing written documentation of the protective filing date Also, your wife does need to be present since it's her benefit application. The current GPO reduction is significant with CSRS pensions, so be prepared for them to try to discourage filing, but stand firm on establishing that date regardless.

@commenter above - No, it's 5% per year. The WEP penalty is reduced by 5% for each year of substantial earnings beyond 20 years. So at 20 years, the penalty is reduced by 5%, at 21 years by 10%, and so on until at 30 years, you reach a 50% reduction, effectively eliminating the WEP penalty entirely.

Thanks everyone for all this helpful information! I think my takeaway is that unless I can earn enough to hit the substantial earnings threshold (which would be tough with just part-time work), there's minimal benefit to working just for Social Security purposes. I'm going to try that Claimyr service to get some specific calculations from SSA about my situation. It's definitely complicated juggling the WEP reduction on my own benefits with the potential GPO reduction on survivor benefits if my spouse passes before me. Feels like I'm being penalized twice for having a government pension, but at least now I understand the mechanics better.