Golden sunsets
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2013
- Messages
- 2,524
I'm sure these questions have been asked and answered many times, but I wanted to get the Board's response to a couple of specific questions. DH retired as a Federal Employee 5 years ago at the age of 61. At 62 he claimed SS, and the Federal pension decreased a couple of hundred dollars due to WEP. The pension would have reduced regardless of whether or not he elected to take SS at 62, so he decided to take the SS. DH had a break in federal service for ten years and had his 40 quarters, so the SS was a bit larger than it would have otherwise been (currently 1106 after a medicare premium of 146.90/mo due to high income on our 2011 return). I have not retired yet and will reach 65 this year. If I were to claim SS at full retirement (66) my payment is estimated to be 1,868. If I wait until I am 70, it is estimated to be 2,743. Longevity runs in my family and we will not need the money at 66 even if I stop working. My first question is, can I claim a spousal benefit of half his at age 66 and then switch to mine at 70? I thought I had read somewhere that to ability to use this tactic depended on who the higher earner was, social security wise, and made a difference as to whether the higher earner could claim spousal benefits on the lower earner and then switch. I can't remember where I read this however.
Second question - I spent time as a federal employee back in the 70's - about 6 years. I don't think that I took out a lump sum payment when I left but am not sure. I sent an inquiry to OPM a couple of months ago and have not received a response yet. (That's another issue - how do I get them to respond?). I have only had 22 years of substantial income since I re-entered the workforce. If I have a small federal pension (boy would it be small) would I be hit by WEP when I do claim SS? I assume that if it were to be hit by WEP, the combined SS payment when combined with the reduced OPM pension would not be less than the SS payment if I didn't put in for a pension with OPM.
Any thoughts - enlightenment would be much appreciated.
Second question - I spent time as a federal employee back in the 70's - about 6 years. I don't think that I took out a lump sum payment when I left but am not sure. I sent an inquiry to OPM a couple of months ago and have not received a response yet. (That's another issue - how do I get them to respond?). I have only had 22 years of substantial income since I re-entered the workforce. If I have a small federal pension (boy would it be small) would I be hit by WEP when I do claim SS? I assume that if it were to be hit by WEP, the combined SS payment when combined with the reduced OPM pension would not be less than the SS payment if I didn't put in for a pension with OPM.
Any thoughts - enlightenment would be much appreciated.
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