Will my Social Security be reduced when collecting CSRS survivor benefits after 45 years of SS contributions?
I'm trying to figure out a complicated retirement situation with my husband's CSRS pension and my Social Security. My husband retired with a Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) pension and elected the survivor benefit option. I've been working in the private sector my entire career and will have approximately 45 years of Social Security contributions when I retire next year. I already have well over 40 credits in the system. I've never worked under CSRS or any government pension system. My question is: If my husband passes away before me and I start receiving his CSRS survivor benefits, will my own Social Security retirement benefits be reduced? I've heard about the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), but I'm confused about whether they would apply in my specific situation since I never personally had a government job. I'd really appreciate any insights from folks who understand these complicated rules!
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QuantumQuest
Good news - in your situation, your Social Security retirement benefits will NOT be reduced if you receive your husband's CSRS survivor benefit. GPO only applies when YOU receive a pension from work where YOU didn't pay into Social Security. Since you worked 45 years in SS-covered employment and never had a government pension yourself, GPO doesn't apply to you. WEP also doesn't apply to you since you never worked in non-covered employment. The fact that your husband was under CSRS doesn't impact your own Social Security benefits. You'll be able to collect both your full Social Security retirement benefit AND your husband's CSRS survivor benefit if he predeceases you.
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Zainab Khalil
•Oh thank goodness! I've been so worried about this. So just to make absolutely sure I understand - even though my husband's pension is from CSRS, the fact that I personally never worked under a government pension system means I'll get both my full Social Security AND his survivor benefits? That's a huge relief.
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Connor Murphy
The previous response is incorrect. GPO will absolutely affect you! My wife was in the exact same situation - I had CSRS, she had 35 years in Social Security. When I passed, her SS was reduced by 2/3 of my government pension. It's a terrible rule but that's how it works.
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Yara Haddad
•This isn't right. You're confusing two different scenarios. GPO only applies when the person claiming Social Security THEMSELVES has a govt pension from non-covered work. If the wife never worked under CSRS but the husband did, her SS is not affected by GPO. You might be thinking of a different situation.
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Keisha Robinson
I went through this EXACT situation last year when my husband passed away. He had CSRS, I had 42 years of SS contributions. I got both my full Social Security and his CSRS survivor benefit with NO reduction. The Social Security office confirmed GPO doesn't apply because I never personally had a government pension. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!!!
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Zainab Khalil
•Thank you so much for sharing your experience! That gives me so much more confidence. Did you have to provide any special documentation when applying for benefits?
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Keisha Robinson
•Just the standard death certificate and marriage certificate for the CSRS survivor benefit. For Social Security, I already had my own retirement benefits, so nothing additional was needed. But dealing with OPM for the CSRS survivor benefit was a nightmare... took almost 5 months to get the first payment.
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Paolo Conti
everyone posting is confussing the rules!!! WEP is for YOUR OWN benefits if YOU worked in non-covered job. GPO is for SPOUSAL/SURVIVOR benefits if YOU get govt pension. since you never had govt job, neither applies to you. youll get full SS + CSRS survivor
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Amina Sow
•This is correct! And precisely why these provisions are so confusing. Too many people think GPO applies in this case but it doesn't. I wish the SSA did a better job explaining these rules.
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GalaxyGazer
I struggled with understanding these rules too! I finally got through to a knowledgeable SSA representative who explained it clearly. Based on your situation, your SS won't be reduced. By the way, when you need to talk to SSA about this, I recommend using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to avoid the endless hold times. They got me connected to an agent in 20 minutes when I was trying for days on my own. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU showing how it works. Saved me so much frustration when I was trying to sort out my husband's CSRS and my Social Security situation.
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Zainab Khalil
•Thanks for the tip! I tried calling SSA last month and gave up after being on hold for over an hour. I'll check out that service when I need to talk to them again.
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Amina Sow
Let me clarify the official rules since there's confusion in this thread: 1. WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) - Only affects your own SS retirement if YOU worked in non-covered employment (like CSRS). Doesn't apply to you. 2. GPO (Government Pension Offset) - Only affects SS spousal/survivor benefits if YOU receive a government pension from non-covered work. Doesn't apply to you. Since you never worked under CSRS and earned your own SS through 45 years of contributions, neither WEP nor GPO applies to your situation. You'll receive your full SS retirement benefit AND your husband's CSRS survivor benefit if he predeceases you. This is clearly stated in SSA's official publications on WEP and GPO.
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Connor Murphy
•I stand corrected - I misunderstood the original post. You're right that GPO only applies when the person themselves had non-covered employment. I was thinking of a different situation.
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Paolo Conti
my mom just went thru this... got ALL her social security plus my dads csrs survivor. no cuts at all
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GalaxyGazer
One thing no one has mentioned yet - make sure your husband's CSRS survivor benefit election is properly documented with OPM. There should be a form (I believe it's SF 2801) on file that confirms his election of survivor benefits. Might be worth checking that everything is in order while you're both still here to address any issues.
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Zainab Khalil
•That's excellent advice - I'm not sure if we ever got confirmation of that election. He retired 8 years ago, so I should probably follow up on that documentation. Thank you!
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