How to view pre-WEP Social Security benefit amount for federal pension offset calculation
After 22 years as a teacher in Ohio (non-SS covered employment) and 15 years in the private sector where I paid into Social Security, I'm trying to figure out how WEP will impact my SS benefits when I retire next year. I understand I'll face a reduction due to WEP, but I can't find anywhere on my Social Security statement that shows my PRE-WEP benefit amount. My statement only shows the already-reduced estimate. I need to see both numbers to verify the reduction is calculated correctly based on my years of substantial earnings. Has anyone found a way to see both the pre-WEP and post-WEP amounts? The SSA calculator online seems to only show the final reduced amount, and my last call to SSA (45 minutes on hold!) ended with the agent saying they couldn't provide that information. Any advice?
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Daniela Rossi
You need to download and use the WEP calculator from the SSA website. It's separate from the regular benefit calculators. Go to ssa.gov/planners/retire/anyPiaWepjs04.html and you can enter your earnings history. It'll show you both your unreduced PIA (Primary Insurance Amount) and your WEP-reduced benefit. Make sure you have your earnings history from your SS statement handy when you use it. The calculator specifically asks for your non-covered pension amount too, so have that information ready from your Ohio teaching pension.
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Sophie Hernandez
•Thank you! I tried finding something like this but kept getting directed to the regular calculator. I'll check out that link. Do you know if it also shows the substantial earnings calculation? I think I have 23 years of substantial earnings which should reduce my WEP penalty some, but I've never been able to verify that.
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Ryan Kim
im in the same boat! worked for TX state gov for 18 yrs then private sector for 12... the WEP is SO UNFAIR!! why should we get penalized just bc we worked govt jobs?? my brother in law never worked govt and gets WAY more SS than me even tho we paid in about the same in private sector. this whole system is rigged against public workers!!!
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Zoe Walker
•You're not really being penalized - the WEP actually prevents a windfall. Social Security benefits are designed to replace a higher percentage of income for lower earners. When your SS earnings record shows years of zero earnings (because you were working in non-covered employment), the formula treats you as a lower earner and would give you a higher replacement rate than you should get. The WEP adjustment corrects this. And remember, with 20+ years of substantial earnings, the WEP reduction starts decreasing, and at 30+ years of substantial earnings, there's no WEP reduction at all.
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Elijah Brown
I just found out I'm affected by WEP too. Does anyone know if they automatically apply the reduction or do we have to tell them about our government pensions? My statement doesn't mention WEP at all.
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Maria Gonzalez
•SSA doesn't automatically know about your non-covered pension. You MUST report it when you apply for Social Security benefits or you could end up with an overpayment that you'll have to pay back later. They've been getting better at catching these through data matching with states, but it's your responsibility to report it. I didn't realize this and ended up with a $7,800 overpayment notice two years after I started collecting! It was a nightmare to deal with.
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Natalie Chen
Try calling SSA directly and request a WEP calculation. The online tools are helpful but sometimes there are nuances to individual situations that only an agent can address. I know getting through to them is frustratingly difficult, but I've found a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps you skip the hold times. I was skeptical but it worked great for me - you can see how it works in their demo video: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. When you do reach an agent, specifically ask for a PEBES (Pre-Eligibility Benefit Estimate Statement) with both the regular PIA and WEP-adjusted PIA. They can generate this even though the online statement doesn't show it.
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Sophie Hernandez
•I'll definitely look into Claimyr - the hold times are ridiculous. Good tip about asking for the PEBES with both calculations. I didn't know they could generate that. I'm still a year from filing, so hopefully getting accurate numbers now will help me better plan.
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Santiago Martinez
My husband had same problem last yr. His norm benefit would be $2450 but WEP knocks off like $430/mo!! Way to thank people for public service right? But the thing that helped us was keeping track of years with "substantial earnings" - each year over 20 reduces the WEP penalty. The max WEP reduction for 2025 is $631 i think
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Daniela Rossi
•You're right about the substantial earnings reducing the WEP penalty. For 2025, each year of substantial earnings over 20 reduces the maximum WEP reduction by 5%. So with 23 years of substantial earnings, the original poster would have their maximum WEP reduction decreased by 15% (3 years × 5%). The earnings threshold that counts as "substantial" changes each year with inflation - for 2025 it's $30,975.
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Ryan Kim
Does anyone know if military service counts as substantial earnings for WEP? My brother did 8 yrs in Army before becoming teacher.
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Zoe Walker
•Yes, military service after 1956 is covered employment under Social Security, so those years count toward substantial earnings for WEP purposes IF the earnings met the threshold for those years. However, military service before 1957 is handled differently. For a complete history of the substantial earnings thresholds by year, see: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf
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Elijah Brown
I thought I read somewhere that Congress might eliminate WEP? Is that true or just wishful thinking?
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Maria Gonzalez
•There have been several bills proposed over the years to reform or eliminate WEP, but none have passed yet. The most recent ones are the Social Security Fairness Act and the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act. They get reintroduced every Congress but haven't made it through. Don't hold your breath - plan as if WEP will still affect you because that's the current law.
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Sophie Hernandez
Update: I found the WEP calculator link and it worked! For anyone else dealing with this, it shows both the regular PIA and the reduced amount after WEP. In my case, my monthly benefit would be $2,285 without WEP but will be $1,786 with the reduction. My 23 years of substantial earnings helped reduce the penalty from the maximum, so that's good news at least. Thanks everyone for your help!
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Daniela Rossi
•Great! Glad you were able to get both figures. One more tip - make sure you download or print your results. The online WEP calculator doesn't save your information, and having documentation of both numbers will be helpful when you actually apply for benefits next year.
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