Do I need to file special paperwork for Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) with Social Security?

SSA applies WEP automatically once they know about your pension from non-covered employment. When you file for Social Security retirement benefits, there will be questions about other pensions you receive. Be sure to answer those questions accurately with information about your state government pension. The key form to focus on is your standard retirement benefit application (can be done online), which includes questions specifically about non-covered pensions. With 12 years of substantial earnings under Social Security, you might qualify for a reduced WEP penalty, since the full WEP reduction gets lessened if you have 20+ years of substantial SS-covered earnings, and eliminated at 30 years. Make sure all your earnings records are correct before applying!

my brother in law went thru this. he worked for city water dept AND had a construction company on the side. there was NO special form for WEP they just looked at his record and calculated everything when he applied for SS. they need to know when ur pension starts and how much it is.

When you file for Social Security retirement benefits, you'll disclose your non-covered pension on the standard application. The system is designed to identify potential WEP situations automatically. However, there are two critical things you should know: 1. If your state pension hasn't started yet when you apply for Social Security, you must contact SSA when it does begin. Your benefits will be recalculated at that point. 2. With 12 years of substantial earnings, you're approaching but not meeting the 20-year threshold where WEP reduction begins to decrease (by 5% for each year over 20). I recommend requesting your earnings record from SSA now to verify all your covered employment is correctly showing in their system. Some government employment is mistakenly coded, and fixing it before application is much easier than afterward.

THEY DONT TELL YOU EVERYTHING!!! I got hit with WEP after I already started getting my SS checks! No warning, just a letter saying my benefit was being reduced by almost $450/month because of my county pension. They said I should have told them but THE QUESTION ON THE APPLICATION WAS CONFUSING and I didn't realize my pension counted as "non-covered employment"!!! Now I'm fighting an overpayment of $7,800. MAKE SURE you specifically tell them about ANY government pension when you apply even if you're not sure it applies to WEP. Better safe than sorry!!!!!

Try using Claimyr to get through to a Social Security representative faster - https://claimyr.com. I was dealing with a complicated WEP situation last month and spent days trying to reach someone at SSA. Claimyr got me through to an agent in about 20 minutes. There's a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent I spoke with was able to look at my record and confirm exactly how my non-covered pension would affect my Social Security payment. They even emailed me a detailed explanation of my WEP reduction calculation that really helped me understand exactly what to expect.

Make sure you understand how bad WEP will hit you before filing for SS! I waited until 67 (my FRA) to file for SS, but WEP still knocked about 40% off my monthly benefit. My sister who never worked for the government gets $2,400/month with similar earnings history, while I only get $1,450 with my teacher's pension. The formula is complicated but basically punishes those of us who worked in public service. So frustrating!

To address your original question more specifically - there is NO separate WEP application form. However, when you apply for retirement benefits, pay careful attention to Form SSA-1-BK (either online or paper version). Section 8 asks about "Special Payments" including non-covered pensions. You should also complete Form SSA-150 (Benefit Estimate Questionnaire) before applying. This helps SSA provide a more accurate benefit estimate including any WEP/GPO reductions. It's not required but highly recommended for anyone with non-covered employment. Also, gather documentation of your state pension details before applying - they'll want to know the monthly amount and start date. Even if your pension hasn't started yet, tell them when it will and the estimated amount.

My husband just went through this. No special form but make sure to read carefully! There's a difference between WEP (affects YOUR benefits if you get a non-covered pension) and GPO (affects SPOUSAL/SURVIVOR benefits if you get a non-covered pension). Different rules apply to each one!

Thanks everyone for the helpful information! I'm going to: 1) Check my earnings record for accuracy, 2) Complete the SSA-150 form to get an estimate with WEP calculated, 3) Be extremely clear about my pension when I apply for benefits, and 4) Keep documentation of everything. It sounds like there's no separate WEP application, but I need to make sure I answer all pension questions accurately on the regular retirement application. I'll also use Claimyr to talk to a representative before I file to double-check everything. This has been really helpful!

I'm in a similar situation - worked for the city for 25 years and have about 10 years of Social Security credits from before that. Reading through all these responses has been really eye-opening, especially the horror stories about surprise overpayments! One thing I wanted to add: I called my HR department at work and they were able to give me the exact language about how my pension is classified (whether it's from "non-covered employment" under Social Security). They also had a fact sheet about WEP that explained how it would affect retirees. Might be worth checking if your state government has similar resources - sometimes they're more familiar with how their specific pension system interacts with Social Security than the general public realizes. Also planning to follow the advice here about getting my earnings record checked well before I apply. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences!

I went through this exact process last year! No special WEP form needed - just be thorough on your regular retirement application. When you get to the pension questions, don't just mention you have a state pension, be specific that it's from "non-covered employment" (that's the key phrase they look for). I'd also recommend calling ahead to confirm your state system isn't covered by Social Security. A few state systems have partial coverage or special agreements that can complicate WEP calculations. My state had a weird hybrid system where some years were covered and others weren't, which affected my WEP reduction. One more thing - if you're married, make sure to ask about GPO (Government Pension Offset) too. It's a separate provision that can reduce spousal/survivor benefits, and many people don't know about it until it's too late. Better to understand both provisions before you file!

As someone who just went through this process 6 months ago, I can confirm what others have said - there's NO separate WEP form to file. The regular Social Security retirement application (SSA-1-BK) has sections where you'll declare your government pension, and that's what triggers the WEP calculation. Here's what I wish I had known: when you get to the pension questions, don't just say "yes I have a pension." Be very explicit that it's from NON-COVERED EMPLOYMENT and provide as much detail as possible about when it starts and the monthly amount. I also recommend bringing a letter from your pension administrator confirming these details. The biggest surprise for me was that they recalculated my benefits TWICE - once when I initially applied (before my pension started), and again 4 months later when my pension actually began. The second recalculation reduced my Social Security by an additional $280/month that I wasn't expecting. With your 12 years of covered employment, you'll definitely face WEP, but at least you won't hit the maximum reduction since you have some substantial earnings years. Good luck!

I just want to echo what everyone else has said - there's definitely no separate WEP form to complete! When I applied for my Social Security benefits last year after retiring from my job with the county, the standard retirement application had clear questions about pensions from non-covered employment. One thing I'd add that hasn't been mentioned much: make sure you understand the timing of when your state pension actually STARTS versus when you plan to start Social Security. I made the mistake of starting my SS benefits 6 months before my pension kicked in, thinking it would be simpler. But then when my pension started, SSA had to recalculate everything and I ended up with a temporary overpayment situation that took 3 months to sort out. If possible, try to coordinate the timing so both benefits start around the same time - it makes the WEP calculation much cleaner from the beginning. Also, definitely request that detailed benefit estimate others mentioned (SSA-150 form) before you apply. It really helps you understand what to expect financially. With 30+ years of government service, your pension will probably be substantial enough that you'll face the maximum WEP reduction on the Social Security side, but at least you'll have a good retirement income overall. Best of luck with the process!

Thank you all for sharing such detailed experiences! As someone new to navigating Social Security and government pensions, this thread has been incredibly helpful. I'm particularly grateful for the specific form numbers (SSA-1-BK, SSA-150) and the emphasis on using precise language like "non-covered employment" when describing my pension. The timing coordination advice really stands out - it sounds like starting Social Security and my pension around the same time could save a lot of headaches with recalculations and potential overpayments. I'm also planning to contact my HR department as suggested to get official documentation about how our pension system is classified. One follow-up question: for those who went through this process, how far in advance did you start gathering documentation and preparing? I'm about 18 months away from retirement and wondering if I should start requesting my earnings record and other paperwork now, or if that's too early. I'd rather be over-prepared than scrambling at the last minute!

I just wanted to add another perspective from someone who recently navigated this process. Like many others have mentioned, there's absolutely no separate WEP form - it's all handled through the standard retirement application. One thing that really helped me was creating a simple timeline document before applying. I listed out: 1) All my years of SS-covered employment with approximate earnings, 2) All my government employment years, 3) When my pension would start and the estimated monthly amount, and 4) When I planned to start Social Security. Having this all laid out made filling out the application much easier and helped me spot potential timing issues. Also, I'd strongly recommend calling the SSA national number (1-800-772-1213) about 3-6 months before you plan to apply, not just to ask about WEP but to do a "dry run" of the information you'll need to provide. The representative I spoke with was very knowledgeable about WEP and helped me understand exactly what documentation I'd need. One last tip: if your state has a public retirement system website, check if they have any resources about Social Security coordination. Mine had a whole section explaining how WEP works with our specific pension system, including examples of benefit calculations. It was more helpful than the general SSA materials because it was tailored to our exact situation. You're smart to plan ahead - being prepared really makes the whole process much smoother!