Will my WEP reduction decrease after reaching 20 substantial years at age 73 while still working under Social Security?

The WEP reduction decreases by 5% for EACH year of substantial earnings over 20 years. So once you hit 20 years at age 73, your WEP reduction drops by 5%, then another 5% for year 21, and so on. If you work until you have 30 years of substantial earnings, the WEP won't affect you at all. I was in a similar position with a California state pension. I confirmed this directly with SSA after struggling for weeks trying to get accurate information. Make sure your earnings each year meet the substantial earnings threshold - it changes yearly ($31,275 for 2025).

its actually BOTH in a way lol. when u hit exactly 20 yrs, your WEP reduction drops by 10% right away (its like a bonus for hitting 20). then after that its 5% less reduction for each additional yr. so yr 21 = 15% less reduction, yr 22 = 20% less, etc. at least thats what happened with my dads benefits when he was dealing with WEP stuff a few yrs ago

Thank you both! This clarifies a lot. So it sounds like it's definitely worth it for me to continue working at least to 73 to hit the 20-year mark, and possibly beyond if I'm able to. Each additional year would increase my benefit by reducing the WEP penalty by another 5%. What about my benefit recalculation? Will SSA automatically recalculate my benefit once I hit 20 years, or do I need to contact them and request it? I've heard their systems don't always catch these WEP changes automatically.

My wife and I spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone at Social Security who actually understood WEP when she was dealing with her teacher's pension from Arizona! The regular reps gave us completely wrong information TWICE!! We finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got us through to an agent in about 10 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Worth every penny to finally talk to someone who knew what they were talking about!

I HATE THE WEP SO MUCH!!!!! I worked for 26 years as a teacher in Texas, then 18 years in private industry. STILL got hit with this penalty even though I paid into BOTH systems fully!!! It's ROBBERY and DOUBLE TAXATION!!!! Congress needs to repeal this UNFAIR provision NOW!!!!! I lost almost $450/month because of this stupid rule!!

To directly answer your original question - it's 5% per year over 20 years of substantial earnings. Here's the exact reduction percentages based on years of substantial earnings: • 20 years: 45% reduction of the first tier of benefits • 21 years: 40% reduction • 22 years: 35% reduction • 23 years: 30% reduction • 24 years: 25% reduction • 25 years: 20% reduction • 26 years: 15% reduction • 27 years: 10% reduction • 28 years: 5% reduction • 29 years: 5% reduction • 30+ years: No reduction (WEP doesn't apply) Also important: The WEP reduction can never be more than 50% of your non-covered pension amount. And if your AIME (Average Indexed Monthly Earnings) is low, you might qualify for the WEP guarantee provision that could further limit the reduction.

Yes, your Florida teacher's pension is almost certainly a non-covered pension if you didn't pay Social Security taxes on those earnings. Florida is one of the states where many public employees are covered by a separate retirement system instead of Social Security. One more thing to consider: if you continue working past your FRA (which you've already reached), you can actually improve your Social Security benefit in two ways simultaneously. First, by reducing the WEP penalty as others have mentioned, and second, by potentially increasing your overall benefit if your recent earnings are higher than some of the earlier years used in your 35-year calculation. Many people in your situation find it beneficial to work at least until they reach 20 substantial years, as that's when you start seeing the WEP reduction decrease.

i retired from teaching in NY after 30 years but i never paid into social security during that time so i don't get any SS benefits at all even though my husband worked under SS his whole life. the GPO took away all my spousal benefits. at least with WEP you still get something!!!

Just want to agree with the comments above saying each year over 20 reduces the WEP penalty by 5%. My husband's situation was almost identical to yours - teacher pension then work under Social Security. Make SURE you keep proof of your earnings each year, especially for years you're right around the substantial earnings threshold. The SSA made a mistake on one of my husband's years and it took months to fix.

has anyone here had luck getting wep completely eliminated? my neighbor said after 30 yrs of work under SS they removed his wep completely?