Will my government pension reduce my Social Security benefits with $36,000 income?

What you're referring to is likely the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and/or the Government Pension Offset (GPO), but there's no specific $36,000 threshold as you described. WEP can reduce your own Social Security benefits if you receive a pension from work where you didn't pay Social Security taxes (like many state government jobs). The reduction depends on your years of "substantial earnings" in Social Security-covered employment. GPO can affect spousal or survivor benefits if you receive a government pension from non-covered work. The $36,000 figure might be confusing income limits with the earnings test (which applies if you claim before Full Retirement Age) or possibly taxation thresholds for Social Security benefits. I recommend calling SSA directly to get a personalized calculation based on your specific work history.

The Social Security Administration is TERRIBLE at explaining this stuff! When I retired from county government last year, they cut my SS benefit by almost 60% because of WEP. Nobody warned me until it was too late. You need to use the WEP calculator on the SSA website ASAP to see how bad the damage will be. Don't trust what the regular benefit statements say - they DON'T factor in the WEP reduction!

i think ur confusing a few different things. the $36k isn't a magic number for pensions. there's the annual earnings limit which is $22,320 in 2025 if ur under full retirement age and still working while collecting SS benefits. also there's the income threshold where ur benefits get taxed which starts around $25k for single filers. neither of these is related to govt pensions specifically.

The WEP reduction is calculated using a modified formula that gives you a lower percentage of your average indexed monthly earnings. For 2025, the maximum WEP reduction is $578 per month, but it's usually less depending on your years of substantial earnings under Social Security. If you have 30+ years of substantial SS-covered earnings, WEP won't apply at all. With 20-29 years, the impact is reduced. Fewer than 20 years means maximum reduction. For your specific situation with both types of employment, you really need to talk to a knowledgeable SSA representative who can look at your complete work history and give you an accurate calculation.

Ugh I spent THREE WEEKS trying to get someone at Social Security on the phone about this exact same issue when I retired!!! Kept getting busy signals or disconnected after waiting forever. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an agent in under 5 minutes. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. Totally worth it because the agent was able to look at my specific work history and tell me exactly how WEP would affect my benefits. Don't rely on general info for this - you need your specific calculation.

My husband went through this last year. His state pension is about $3100/month and his Social Security got reduced from $1900 to about $1350 because of WEP. Every case is different though because it depends on how many years you worked in each system. Check your Social Security statement and look for a note about potentially reduced benefits due to WEP.

Just to clarify on WEP calculations: The reduction is based on a modified formula that affects how your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) is calculated. Normally, SSA uses 90% of your first tier of average indexed monthly earnings. Under WEP, that 90% can be reduced to as low as 40% for that first tier. With 22 years of substantial earnings, your reduction would be less severe than someone with fewer years. For each year over 20 that you have substantial earnings, the 90% factor increases by 5%. So with 22 years, the 40% would be increased to 50% (40% + 10% for the 2 years over 20). This makes a significant difference in the final calculation.

Also important - WEP is different from GPO (Government Pension Offset), which affects spousal or survivor benefits. GPO would reduce spousal/survivor benefits by 2/3 of your government pension amount. So if you're eligible for spousal benefits from your husband/wife's record, that's a separate calculation from the WEP reduction on your own benefits.

my brother in law had almost the same situation and what nobody told him was that some states have agreements with SSA that exempt certain employees from WEP. worth checking if your state job might be exempt!

You need to get your Social Security Statement and also your pension statement, then use the WEP calculator on the SSA website. Don't trust what the regular benefit estimate shows! Here's what affects your WEP reduction: 1. How many years you paid into Social Security with "substantial earnings" 2. Whether your pension is from work where you paid SS taxes 3. When you plan to start taking benefits Last tip: If you haven't retired yet, sometimes working an extra year or two in Social Security-covered employment can significantly reduce the WEP penalty. Worth considering if you're close to another threshold year.