Will my state pension trigger GPO against my wife's Social Security benefits after 30+ years of SS contributions?

Good question! GPO only affects YOUR ability to collect spousal or survivor benefits based on YOUR SPOUSE'S record when you have a non-covered pension. It doesn't work the other way around. Since your wife never worked in non-covered employment and won't have a government pension, GPO won't apply to her at all. She'll be able to claim spousal benefits on your record (if they're higher than her own) without any reduction related to your county pension. Your situation is actually one of the better ones to be in with WEP/GPO concerns. With 36 years of substantial earnings, you're completely protected from WEP on your own benefits. And your wife is completely protected from GPO since she's not the one with the non-covered pension. So I'd say yes - stay long enough to vest in that county pension. You're in a rare situation where you can actually have your cake and eat it too!

i dealt with smthing similar. ur own SS is safe from WEP due to 30+ yrs substatntial earnings but HOLD UP - u need to double check if its actually 30 yrs of SUBSTANTIAL earnings not just any earnings. SSA has specific $ amounts for each yr that count as substantial... might wanna verify those 36 yrs actually all meet the threshold

To completely answer your question - no, GPO will not affect your wife's benefits based on your record if you get a government pension. GPO only affects the person who directly receives the non-covered government pension. When your wife claims spousal benefits on your record, those benefits will not be reduced because of your county pension. Similarly, if she later claims survivor benefits after your passing, those benefits won't be reduced by GPO either. The formula is clear on this: GPO impacts the government pension recipient's ability to collect spousal/survivor benefits, but does not flow through to affect others claiming on their record. So your government pension affects YOUR ability to claim on HER record (if that ever came up), but not the reverse. With your 36 years of substantial earnings, you're in an optimal position regarding both WEP and GPO. I'd definitely recommend staying to vest in that pension.

My husband and I went through this EXACT same thing! He had 32 years Social Security then took a state job. Just FYI, make sure you really do have 30 SUBSTANTIAL years by SSA's standards - they have a chart showing how much you needed to earn each year to count! Our accountant got this wrong at first and we had to double check.

The previous posters are correct. I'll add that you should definitely consider staying long enough to vest in the county pension system. Here's why: having both a non-covered pension AND your full Social Security benefits (protected from WEP by your 30+ years) means a much stronger retirement position. One thing to note though - while your situation is clear regarding WEP and GPO now, keep in mind that Congress occasionally proposes changes to these provisions. While there haven't been major changes in many years, it's always possible that future legislation could modify how these rules work. That said, there's typically strong grandfathering provisions in any proposed legislation, so those already in the system are usually protected. I recommend keeping documentation of your substantial earnings years just in case you ever need to verify your WEP exemption status in the future.

I forgot to mention: make sure to keep checking your Social Security statement annually even while working in non-covered employment. You want to ensure your earnings record remains accurate and that those 36 substantial years stay properly credited.

jus wanna say that state pension is gonna be NICE on top of SS! don't give that up if you don't have too. who gets pensions anymore these days??

I tried caling SSA last week with almost the EXACT same question!!! Sat on hold for 2.5 HOURS and then got disconnected!!!! So frustrating trying to get real answers from them!!!

To answer your follow-up question - yes, my husband took the state pension and retired two years ago. His SS wasn't reduced at all because of his substantial earnings years. I claim my own SS (I only worked 20 years but all my jobs paid pretty well) and everything worked out fine financially. We're actually better off with the combo of his state pension + both our SS than we would have been otherwise.

One other thing worth noting: the determination of whether you're exempt from WEP due to 30+ years of substantial earnings is made at the time you become eligible for Social Security benefits. So even if you leave your county job before vesting, those years of non-covered employment will still count as "zeros" in the substantial earnings calculation. This doesn't sound like it will affect you since you already have 36 substantial years, but it's an important nuance for others who might be close to the 30-year threshold. Each year of non-covered employment essentially "uses up" one of your potential substantial earnings years.

To clarify what the previous commenter said: Whether you vest in the pension or not doesn't affect your WEP calculation. What matters is whether you have 30+ years of substantial earnings under Social Security. Since you already have 36 years of substantial earnings, you're fully protected from WEP regardless of whether you vest in your county pension or not. Your Social Security benefits will be calculated using the regular formula, not the reduced WEP formula. Vesting only determines whether you get the county pension - it doesn't change how your Social Security is calculated. So you might as well stay and get that pension!