Will Social Security reduce my FRA benefit with 20-year gap in earnings and foreign pension after WEP repeal?

Your benefit WILL be lower than someone who had stable earnings for 35 years, but that's already factored into your Social Security statement estimate. SSA calculates your benefit using your highest 35 years of earnings (adjusted for inflation). Any years you don't have US earnings simply count as $0 in the calculation, bringing down your average. Your foreign pension would have been subject to WEP before the repeal, but now you're in luck - no reduction for that! Just be aware that if you haven't reached your FRA yet, your estimated benefit assumes you'll continue working at your current earnings level until FRA.

same boat here! worked in Canada for 13 yrs and was worried sick about WEP... such a relief they finally repealed that unfair penalty! i have gaps in my record too and my SS is definitely lower than friends who worked steady in the US

The key to understanding your situation lies in how Social Security calculates your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). They take your highest 35 years of earnings, index them for inflation, and then average them to determine your Average Indexed Monthly Earnings (AIME). Years with zero earnings DO count as zeros in this calculation. Your Social Security statement is showing an estimate based on your actual earnings history including those zero years from 1991-2011. So yes, those missing years are already factored into your estimate. The good news about WEP repeal is that your Australian pension won't reduce your benefit further. However, there's still the Windfall Elimination Provision's cousin - the Government Pension Offset (GPO) - which could affect benefits if you're claiming spousal or survivor benefits while receiving a foreign pension. But it doesn't impact your own retirement benefits.

my brother had gaps too and his check is tiny! only like $1400 a month even though he worked hard his whole life except when he was in germany. system is rigged

I went through something similar with my work history split between the US and UK. Trying to get answers from SSA was impossible - hours on hold only to get disconnected or told different information each time. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual SSA representative. It let me schedule a callback without the endless wait. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Once I got through, I learned that yes, my estimate already included the zero years, and each additional year I worked would improve my benefit by replacing a zero. With WEP gone, your foreign pension won't reduce your US benefit further. Worth getting official confirmation directly from SSA though!

Don't forget that overseas earnings might count toward US Social Security under certain totalization agreements. I think Australia has one with the US. You should check if some of those foreign years might actually count toward your US benefit.

Thanks everyone for your helpful responses! This has been really educational. So it sounds like my statement estimate already factors in my zero years, which is a relief. And with WEP repealed, I won't see a reduction based on my Australian pension. Each year I work now basically replaces a zero year in my calculation, which should boost my benefit. I'll try to get through to SSA to confirm all this (maybe using that Claimyr service if I can't get through the normal channels). Really appreciate all your insights!