Social Security WEP reduction doesn't match calculator - pension date discrepancy on award letter

The discrepancy is likely due to how they're applying the WEP in your husband's case. The SSA WEP calculator gives an estimate based on the information you input, but the actual calculation can be affected by several factors: 1. The pension start date error definitely needs to be corrected. Since your husband has been receiving his non-covered pension since 2000, this is a clear administrative error that could be affecting the calculation. 2. The second statement is indeed referring to Delayed Retirement Credits (DRCs). If your husband waited beyond his FRA to file, he would receive an increase of 8% per year (or about 0.67% per month) for each month he delayed past FRA up to age 70. I recommend calling SSA directly to point out the error about the pension start date. This could very well explain the $150 difference if they're not correctly applying the WEP reduction.

we had almost this EXACT situation with my dad's ss benefits last year!! The ssa made a mistake on when his state pension started and it messed up his wep reduction. It took 3 visits to the local office to get it fixed 🤬

If you're having trouble reaching someone by phone, I'd recommend trying Claimyr (claimyr.com). It's a service that helps you skip the SSA phone queue and get connected to an agent quickly. I was in a similar situation with my husband's WEP calculation and was getting nowhere with regular calls. Used their service and got through to a rep in about 10 minutes who helped resolve the issue. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU For something this important involving a $150/month difference, speaking directly with an SSA representative is crucial. They can pull up your husband's specific record and see exactly how they applied WEP and why there's a discrepancy with the calculator.

Congrats on your husband's retirement! The second part is definitely just the delayed retirement credits. My wife got 16% more for waiting until 68 to claim.

The WEP calculator can be off if any of the earnings years or substantial earnings years are incorrect. When you used the calculator, did you include all years of covered employment with precise earnings figures? Even small discrepancies can affect the WEP calculation. Regarding the pension date - YES, absolutely contact SSA immediately to correct this. If they believe January 2025 is when his pension began (rather than 2000), their entire WEP calculation would be wrong. This would explain the $150 discrepancy. For reference, WEP reduces your PIA by up to 50% of your first bend point ($1,174 in 2025), but this reduction is lowered if you have 30+ years of substantial earnings under covered employment. Each year of substantial earnings over 20 years reduces the WEP penalty. If you can't get through by phone, I recommend sending a secure message through your my Social Security account AND scheduling an in-person appointment.

i think i can explain the weird pension language!! the ssa letter is just using standard template language and nobody bothered to customize it for your husband's situation. when they say "first month" they're just saying january 2025 is when they're APPLYING the wep reduction to his ss benefits, not when his pension started. but you're right that they got the pension date wrong in their records if he's been getting it since 2000. definitely get that fixed or they might mess up other calculations down the road!

This same thing happened to me!!! Their system is so messed up. I waited on hold for THREE HOURS only to get disconnected. Then went to my local office and they told me they couldn't help with complex WEP issues and I needed to call the special WEP experts on the phone!!! It's a never ending loop of frustration. Have you checked if all his income years were correctly recorded in their system? My husband's WEP calculation was wrong because they missed 2 years of his covered employment which made a big difference in the final amount.

To clarify something important: With WEP, the maximum reduction in 2025 would be approximately $587 (50% of the first bend point). But since your husband has 22 years of substantial earnings under Social Security, his WEP reduction should be less than the maximum. Specifically, each year over 20 years reduces the WEP penalty by 5%. With 22 years, the reduction would be 10% less than the maximum, so approximately $528 instead of $587. If the SSA incorrectly thinks his pension just started, they might be applying some prorated calculation for 2025 only, which could explain the $150 difference. This is definitely worth pursuing with them.

my sister works for ssa and says their computer systems for wep calculations are from the stone age! human reps often have to manually override things. def talk to a person!