I worked for a state agency for 16 years , leaving there in 1986 and taking out my contributions in 1987 . Therefore , technically , I never will get a pension . I recently applied for SS to begin at age 62 and a few months and was told by the SS rep that I may be subject to the WEP which shocked me . She said they will check to see if the contributions were all my own or if I was vested - I told her I took out my own money and paid a penalty so how is that a pension ? Then she seemed confused - she made some comments in the Comments section and said that SS will check with the State agency . I called them and they did not have much knowledge of the WEP - they just said I took my money out in 1987 , approx. $14000 and I had a zero balance . It was all my own money PLUS interest which I guess could make it a pension since I did not pay into SS there .
Does anyone have any knowledge of this ? SS sent me a letter with the amt I will get assuming that I do not get a state pension . I don't want any big surprises so may have to delay my retirement . : (
I see there is a lump sum pension calculator on the SS website - because I was only 34 when I took the money out in 1987 , using their calculator , I believe I would only lose $84 a month . Here is a link to the calculator :
https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0300605364 ALso , I know there is a low pension guarantee that they cannot take more than half of a non covered pension away . Am I figuring this correctly ? TThey told me that without the WEP , my SS at 63 would be $950 - thanks for anyone who is more knowledgeable about this than I am. It seems so unfair to be penalized several times over for a lousy $14000 I took 28 years ago and never was notified about since the law just passed .
It seems that some people are getting hit really hard so I am asking is the WEP based on the PIA at 66 or do they recomputed then take the small pension into acct ? Thanks for any info -
Does anyone have any knowledge of this ? SS sent me a letter with the amt I will get assuming that I do not get a state pension . I don't want any big surprises so may have to delay my retirement . : (
I see there is a lump sum pension calculator on the SS website - because I was only 34 when I took the money out in 1987 , using their calculator , I believe I would only lose $84 a month . Here is a link to the calculator :
https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0300605364 ALso , I know there is a low pension guarantee that they cannot take more than half of a non covered pension away . Am I figuring this correctly ? TThey told me that without the WEP , my SS at 63 would be $950 - thanks for anyone who is more knowledgeable about this than I am. It seems so unfair to be penalized several times over for a lousy $14000 I took 28 years ago and never was notified about since the law just passed .
It seems that some people are getting hit really hard so I am asking is the WEP based on the PIA at 66 or do they recomputed then take the small pension into acct ? Thanks for any info -