Will my SS survivor benefits change when I retire + GPO pension question

Your survivor benefits will remain the same when you retire if they're higher than your own retirement benefit would be. SSA automatically gives you whichever is higher - your own benefit or the survivor benefit - but not both. Regarding your government pension: YES, you absolutely must report this to Social Security! It is not automatic. The GPO (Government Pension Offset) will reduce your survivor benefits by 2/3 of your government pension amount. So with a $680 pension, that's about $453 that would be deducted from your monthly survivor benefit. You should contact SSA before your pension starts to inform them. If you don't report it and they find out later (which they eventually will), you'll face an overpayment situation and have to pay back all the excess benefits you received.

i went thru this with my mom last year... the SS ppl WONT know about ur pension automatically u have to tell them. they made my mom pay back like $5000 cause she didnt know she was supposed to report her teacher pension from illinois. its such garbage how they punish ppl who worked as teachers and govt workers

Curious - how much is your survivor benefit if you don't mind sharing? I'm trying to plan ahead as my husband is quite a bit older than me and has a good earnings record. I know the GPO is a real problem for many people with government pensions.

I had to notify Social Security when my state pension started. They didn't know automatically. I think there's a form called SSA-2856 for reporting non-covered pension benefits. I found it online and brought it to my local office with documentation from my pension provider.

Anyone else think it's RIDICULOUS that we get punished for working government jobs? I worked 22 years as a teacher AND 15 years in the private sector, and I lose THOUSANDS each year because of WEP/GPO. The system is broken and Congress won't fix it. They keep introducing bills to repeal these penalties but they never pass. So frustrating!!!

If you're having trouble reaching someone at Social Security to report your pension, you might want to try using Claimyr (claimyr.com). It's a service that helps you get through to a real SSA agent without the endless waiting. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU I used it when I needed to report my pension start date and documentation. I was connected to an agent in about 15 minutes instead of spending hours on hold or waiting weeks for an appointment. Definitely worth it for important matters like reporting a government pension where mistakes can lead to overpayments.

whats the point of even taking the pension if ur gonna lose most of it to GPO? my friend just took a lump sum from her small govt pension to avoid the hassle

Make sure you bring documentation showing your pension amount when you report it to Social Security. They'll need proof of the exact amount. The WEP/GPO calculations can be complicated, and having everything documented properly will help ensure they calculate your benefits correctly. Also, if the pension amount ever changes (like with cost-of-living adjustments), you'll need to report those changes to SSA as well. It's an ongoing responsibility, unfortunately.

My sister just retired and she gets SS and a small county pension too. She said she had to go to her local SS office in person with paperwork showing her pension amount. They couldn't do it over the phone.

I know this isn't directly related to your question, but have you looked into whether that Nevada government job might make you eligible for Medicare Part B premium reduction through the Medicare Savings Program? Some state/local government retirees qualify for help with Medicare costs even with small pensions.