Will claiming UK pension reduce my Social Security benefits? Windfall Elimination confusion

Yes, this would likely trigger WEP. The Windfall Elimination Provision applies to pensions from work not covered by Social Security taxes, which includes most foreign pensions. The reduction isn't dollar-for-dollar, but follows a formula based on your years of 'substantial earnings' under Social Security. With 30+ years of substantial SS-covered earnings, there's no WEP reduction. With 20 years, the reduction is less. Check your earnings record on mySocialSecurity.gov to see where you stand. The maximum WEP reduction in 2025 is $583/month, but it would likely be less in your situation.

I'm in a similar situation with a Canadian pension. After researching extensively, I decided to claim both. Even with the WEP reduction, I still came out ahead financially. The key is calculating the actual impact: 1. Determine your years of substantial earnings under SS (the threshold changes yearly) 2. Calculate your potential WEP reduction 3. Compare that to your foreign pension amount In my case, my SS was reduced by about $340/month, but I gained $700/month from Canada, so net positive $360. You need to do this math for your specific situation.

WEP is HORRIBLE and UNFAIR!!! I worked in Germany for 8 years and now they take almost $400 from my social security every month!!!! I paid into BOTH systems but they still penalize me. The worst part is I didn't even know about this until AFTER I applied for my German pension and then SSA sent me a notice that they were REDUCING my benefits. By then it was TOO LATE to change anything!!

I helped my father with this exact issue. He worked in the UK for 9 years and was eligible for a small pension there. You should know the US and UK have a totalization agreement, which can sometimes help in these situations. Though it typically doesn't eliminate WEP, it might improve your overall benefits. Critical point: You MUST report the foreign pension to SSA yourself. They don't automatically know about it. But not reporting it is considered fraud and can result in serious overpayment issues later. For anyone struggling to get through to SSA about these complex international issues, I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to reach an agent quickly. They have a service that helps you get through the phone system without hours of waiting. They even have a video demonstrating how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. Was essential for resolving my dad's complicated pension issues.

i think everyone is over complicating this. if you dont tell SSA about the UK pension they wont know about it. my uncle gets a small pension from his time working in australia and he just never mentioned it to social security. been collecting both for 6 years no problems. just saying...

My wife gets both SS and a pension from UK. They did reduce her social security but she still gets more total money with both than just SS alone. She had to fill out some form every year telling SS how much she got from UK. It's annoying but worth it for the extra money.

To answer your question about 'substantial earnings' - for 2025, you need earnings of at least $32,475 for the year to count. Different years have different thresholds. You can check previous years' thresholds on SSA's website. And yes, you must self-report the foreign pension. Form SSA-308 is used to report receipt of a pension based on work not covered by Social Security. It's your legal responsibility to report it, and there can be significant penalties for not doing so.

I'm confused about something... do ALL foreign pensions trigger WEP? My sister gets a tiny pension from Italy (like $100/month) and nobody ever said anything about reductions. Maybe it's too small to matter??

one thing nobody mentioned is taxes. my friend gets a UK pension and had to file some complicated tax form for foreign income. something to think about too