How does new WEP legislation affect Social Security with mixed private/public teaching experience?

the private schol years r treated same as ur corporate work becuz u paid into SS for both. its the public teaching that gets weird with WEP. the new formula is sppsed to be more fair for ppl who worked both SS and non-SS jobs. It looks at lifetime earnings instead of just using that old 30 year rule.

The WEP reform makes significant changes to how benefits are calculated for people with mixed earnings history like yours. Under the new proportional WEP formula, SSA will look at your lifetime earnings in both covered (SS) and non-covered employment, rather than applying the arbitrary reduction of the old formula. Your private school teaching (7 years) counts exactly the same as your corporate work (28 years) because both were "covered employment" where you paid Social Security taxes. The 6 years in public schools where you earned your state pension is the "non-covered" portion. The new formula will essentially calculate your benefit based on the proportion of your career spent in SS-covered work (35 years out of your 41-year career). Since approximately 85% of your career was in covered employment, the WEP reduction should be relatively small compared to the current formula. SSA will implement these changes automatically for current beneficiaries, but it might be worth monitoring your mySocialSecurity account for notifications once implementation begins in 2025.

Be CAREFUL about trusting what you hear online!! The WEP is COMPLICATED and even SSA agents get it wrong half the time! I had a similar situation with both covered and non-covered employment and got 3 DIFFERENT ANSWERS from 3 different SSA reps!!! The new law helps some people but HURTS others. You really need to talk to someone who specializes in this!!!!!

The WEP reform in the new legislation replaced the arbitrary formula with a proportional calculation that's more equitable for people with mixed careers. For your specific situation: 1. Private school teaching (7 years): Fully counted as SS-covered employment 2. Corporate work (28 years): Fully counted as SS-covered employment 3. Public school teaching (6 years): Non-covered employment This gives you 35 years of SS-covered work out of 41 total working years. Under the new proportional WEP formula, your reduction will be significantly less than under the old arbitrary formula that could reduce your benefit by up to $534 per month in 2024. The implementation will be automatic, but given the complexity, I'd recommend scheduling a consultation with SSA to review your specific situation. Many people in similar situations find it nearly impossible to get through on the SSA phone lines, though.

my husband had the WEP penalty and it took almost $400 off his SS check every month! the new law might help but we're not holding our breath. the government always finds ways to take more from us retirees lol

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! I feel like I understand much better now. The proportional formula makes a lot more sense than the old arbitrary reduction. Since I have 35 years of SS-covered employment between my private school and corporate jobs, it sounds like my WEP reduction should be fairly small compared to what it might have been under the old rules. I'm going to try to speak with someone at SSA to confirm the details for my specific case. Really appreciate all the insights!

Does anyone know when these changes actually start? I heard 2025 but not sure exactly when during the year?

I just remembered something IMPORTANT! If you have 30+ years of "substantial earnings" under Social Security, you might be COMPLETELY EXEMPT from WEP even under the current rules!!!! You should check if your 35 years of SS work all count as "substantial earnings" - the threshold changes each year. For 2023 it was around $28,050 I think?? If you have 30+ substantial years you might not even need to worry about WEP at all!!!!