When will Social Security pay recalculated benefits after WEP repeal with 80+ quarters?
Recently heard that Social Security was repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision for people with significant time in both covered and non-covered employment. I've paid into Social Security for 80+ quarters from my jobs in the private sector, then became a teacher in our state pension system. Since 2004, my SS retirement benefit has been reduced by WEP. Has anyone received their recalculated payment yet? I've been checking my account online but nothing's changed. How long should I expect to wait for SSA to restore my full benefit amount? I have no idea what I should even be getting since that reduction letter came nearly 20 years ago. Anyone else in this boat?
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Ethan Wilson
The WEP modification recently passed isn't a complete repeal - it's a change to the formula for those with 30+ years of substantial earnings under Social Security. With your 80 quarters (20 years), you might see an adjustment, but it depends on how many of those quarters had 'substantial earnings' as defined by SSA. The implementation timeline hasn't been officially announced yet, but these system-wide recalculations typically take 6-12 months to start appearing in benefit payments.
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Aisha Abdullah
•Thanks for clarifying! Do you know what counts as 'substantial earnings'? Most of my private sector work was full-time and well-paid, but a few years in the 90s I worked part-time while getting my teaching degree.
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Yuki Tanaka
same thing happend to me but with GPO not WEP. my husband passed and i only get like $247 of his SS benefit because of my teacher pension. i called SSA 6 times about the changes but nobody can tell me anything. just says 'wait for official notice' so frustrating!!!
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Ethan Wilson
•The Government Pension Offset (GPO) and WEP are different provisions, though they both affect government workers. The recent legislation primarily addresses WEP, not GPO. For your situation with survivor benefits being reduced by GPO, I haven't seen any changes to that in the current legislation.
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Carmen Diaz
I worked both government and private too. Just to clarify - did Congress actually pass a full WEP repeal yet? I thought it was still being debated? My accountant hasn't mentioned anything changing.
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Andre Laurent
•No complete repeal yet!! There were several bills proposed but what actually passed was a modified formula that gives partial relief depending on your years of substantial earnings. Media keeps calling it a "repeal" but it's more complicated than that. The SSA hasn't even updated their processing systems for it yet.
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AstroAce
I spent 4 HOURS yesterday trying to reach someone at Social Security about this exact issue. Kept getting disconnected or put on eternal hold. Finally gave up. Their system is completely broken when it comes to these special situations like WEP. I've been waiting for my recalculation since the law changed and not a peep from them. NO communication whatsoever!!
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Zoe Kyriakidou
•Have you tried using Claimyr to get through to SSA? I was in the same situation trying to get information about my WEP recalculation. After multiple disconnects, I used their service at claimyr.com and they got me connected to a real person at SSA in about 15 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - Saved me hours of frustration and the agent was able to confirm they're working on implementing the changes but didn't have an exact timeline yet.
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Jamal Brown
For those confused about WEP and the recent changes, here's what's happening: 1. The WEP originally reduced benefits for people who worked in jobs not covered by Social Security (like some government positions) but who also qualified for SS benefits from other work. 2. The new law changes the WEP formula to be more proportional based on your actual earnings record. 3. If you have 30+ years of substantial earnings under Social Security, the WEP reduction will be eliminated entirely. 4. For those with 20-29 years (like the original poster with 80 quarters/20 years), there will be a partial reduction in the WEP penalty. 5. SSA needs to reprogram their systems to implement these changes, which is why there's a delay. Any adjusted payments will be retroactive to the effective date of the legislation, so you won't lose money due to their processing delays.
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Carmen Diaz
•What about the quarters where I only worked part-time? Do those count as "substantial earnings" years?
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Jamal Brown
•Substantial" earnings has a specific definition with SSA. For each year,'there s a minimum amount you needed to earn for it to count as a full year toward the 30-year threshold. For example, in 2023, you needed to earn at least $28,725 for it to count as a year of substantial earnings. These thresholds were lower in previous years - in the 1990s it was around $10,000-15,000 depending on the specific year. Part-time work can qualify if you earned enough to meet that'year sthreshold.
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Aisha Abdullah
Is there anything I can/should be doing right now to speed up the process? Should I be submitting some kind of request to SSA or just wait for them to implement the changes automatically?
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Andre Laurent
•Just wait!! Calling them will just waste your time - they're implementing this for everyone affected by WEP at once. My brother works for SSA (not speaking officially) and says their systems are being updated but its a huge project affecting millions of records.
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Yuki Tanaka
i hope theyll fix the GPO too, not fair that i worked as a teacher for 31 years and lose most of my husbands SS benefit!!!
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Ethan Wilson
•There are separate proposals for GPO reform, but they haven't passed yet. The current legislation only addresses WEP. I know it's frustrating - many teacher groups and public employee organizations continue to advocate for GPO reform as well.
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AstroAce
Does anyone know if the payments will be RETROACTIVE when they finally implement this? I've been getting reduced benefits for 12 years now because of WEP!
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Jamal Brown
•Based on the legislation, the adjustments will be retroactive to the effective date of the law (January 2025), but not for the entire period you've been affected by WEP. So you'll get retroactive payments from January 2025 until whenever they actually implement the changes in their system, but not for the 12 years prior to the law changing.
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Carmen Diaz
My cousin told me this doesn't apply if you're already receiving disability instead of retirement. Is that true? I get SSDI and had my benefit reduced by WEP too.
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Ethan Wilson
•Your cousin is incorrect. The WEP changes apply to all Social Security benefits that were subject to WEP, including disability (SSDI). If your SSDI benefit was reduced because of WEP and you meet the criteria under the new formula, you should see an adjustment when SSA implements the changes.
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