Social Security Bill passes for Federal Employees

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Old 12-23-2024, 09:49 PM
Utah Flyfisher Utah Flyfisher is offline
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Originally Posted by retiredguy123 View Post
Personally, I think the spouse benefit should be eliminated. If someone doesn't pay into the system, they should not get a check. The way the current system works is that a worker can be married 4 or 5 times, and as long as each marriage lasts at least 10 years, all of the ex-spouses are entitled to a check, even if they never worked at all. Some ex-spouses, who never worked, are receiving a check that is higher than a fulltime worker who worked for 30 or 40 years.
I get benefits forever because my husband works for the USAF. Civilian. Not enlisted. No potential sacrifice or loss of life and yet here I am set for life because….. 🤷🏻*♀️ I’ve never understood how or why. I’ve been employed FT for over 40 years but the reason I have security is because my husband works for the AF. Why doesn’t my employment history have anything to do with my benefits/security?
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Old 12-23-2024, 10:27 PM
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Default forbes explains why....

Issue is that social security has no visibility to your income while covered by a pension and NOT paying social security. it is about earnings. A person in the non-social security plan was prevented from taking a social security covered job for a reduce number of years and getting that income replaced at the low income rate of higher replacement.

Forbes example....Now let’s suppose you receive what’s called a “non-covered” pension, which is work where no Social Security tax is withheld. These pensions include teachers, public sector workers such as firefighters, police , state, local or county employees. Let’s also assume that you earn $84,000 in that job and have a side job subject to Social Security withholding and earn $12,000. When you apply for Social Security benefits, to Social Security you look like a “low earner”, which you are not. Social Security does not have access to information relating to your “non-covered” pension. Because of that, when Social Security calculates your benefit, you have a replacement percentage of 90%. If your Social Security benefit was calculated as if all your earnings were in the Social Security system on total earnings of $96,000, your replacement rate would be 40%, not 90%. Since you really are not a low earner because your total income is $96,000, Social Security reduces your monthly Social Security benefit by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) to adjust for the higher replacement percentage which you would not be entitled to if all of your earnings were in the Social Security system.
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Old 12-23-2024, 10:39 PM
JustSomeGuy JustSomeGuy is offline
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Default gpo forbes....

Goal of the programs were to give those not paying social security when covered by pensions equal treatment of a similar salaried social security paying person, not the larger pension benefit plus the entire social security payment. Goal was to give similar total payouts like the pension /social security combination paid the same as the same number of years and same salaried social security tax payer.

The GPO reduction in Social Security benefits is 2/3rds of the monthly amount of the public sector government retirement benefit you receive. Of note, if you receive a lump sum payment from a public sector government pension, the lump sum will be converted into a monthly annuity benefit by Social Security. For example, let’s assume you and your spouse have both reached your full retirement age for Social Security purposes. That would mean you are between the ages of 66-67. Your public sector government pension is $3,000/month and you have no Social Security benefit of your own. As a spouse, you are entitled to a spousal benefit of 50% of your spouse’s full retirement age Social Security benefit. Assume your spouse’s Social Security full retirement age benefit is $2,500, so therefore you would be entitled to $1,250. Since 2/3rds of your public sector government pension is $2,000 ($3,000 x 66%) and is greater than the spousal benefit of $1,250, the spousal benefit is reduced to zero.


Now let’s assume your public sector government pension is $1,500, then you would be entitled to a $250 spousal benefit. Here’s the math: $1,500 x 66% = $1,000. The Social Security spousal benefit reduced by the GPO of $1,000 produces a spousal benefit of $250. From this last example you can see that the full 50% spousal benefit of $1,250 is made up of $1,000 from your public sector government pension and $250 from Social Security.

As you can see from the above example, the GPO can reduce your Social Security spousal benefit to zero.
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Old 12-24-2024, 12:29 AM
MplsPete MplsPete is offline
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OMG, this makes my head spin. I barely can follow what is being said; So, let me pose a question, and if anyone can answer it I will be grateful.

Let's assume I worked for a branch of government for about 15 years, about 40 years ago. FERS, not CSRS. And let's assume I get a small pension from that, say, 500 a month. I will be starting SS soon, past full retirement age. Will the 500 cause a reduction in my SS? When I die, will this affect my spouse?

Last edited by MplsPete; 12-24-2024 at 12:33 AM. Reason: Spelling.
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Old 12-24-2024, 06:34 AM
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But, the most absurd situation is that military people can retire after 20 years, and then immediately return as a GS-15 or SES civilian employee and earn another full pension. They have an inside track with military preference, and sometimes they return in one day to the same desk.

Anyone could have joined the military (unless a medical condition, etc). And yes members of the armed services can retire after 20 years but perhaps what many don't know is the hours put in during those 20 years, the sacrifices, the works conditions, and NO overtime to name a few. And many don't make it to the 20 years.
cheers...
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Old 12-24-2024, 06:38 AM
Craftylady Craftylady is offline
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My husband worked for the VA and is collecting a pension, which he paid into, from there. He also worked many part time jobs and paid into social security. Currently he gets 1/3. Of money he paid into social security. Is that fair, no.
  #22  
Old 12-24-2024, 06:40 AM
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Originally Posted by MplsPete View Post
OMG, this makes my head spin. I barely can follow what is being said; So, let me pose a question, and if anyone can answer it I will be grateful.

Let's assume I worked for a branch of government for about 15 years, about 40 years ago. FERS, not CSRS. And let's assume I get a small pension from that, say, 500 a month. I will be starting SS soon, past full retirement age. Will the 500 cause a reduction in my SS? When I die, will this affect my spouse?
FERS are not affected as they paid into SS. CSRS did not.
  #23  
Old 12-24-2024, 07:04 AM
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It’s explained simply here.
https://youtu.be/liW2W5VasDk
Both were very unjust.
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Old 12-24-2024, 07:28 AM
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It’s explained simply here.
https://youtu.be/liW2W5VasDk
Both were very unjust.
They were also partially explained in posts 17 and 18 with Forbes cited as the source. There was good logic behind both provisions.
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Old 12-24-2024, 08:00 AM
ithos ithos is offline
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Maybe this is something DOGE will be interested in.
  #26  
Old 12-24-2024, 08:34 AM
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Default Not so fast

My wife worked as a teacher in Missouri and retired and gets a pension from the state of Missouri. She also worked outside of the teacher Missouri pension system and paid into social security with 40 credits.

That sir is two different govt agency’s. Missouri and federal. The WEP system also restricted her from getting survivor benefits from social security if I were to pass away.

Point is she paid into SS to the max.

I was an airline pilot with a pension. and a 20 year military retiree. Should my military be reduced or eliminated?
Think about it!
  #27  
Old 12-24-2024, 08:37 AM
MSGirl MSGirl is offline
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Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe View Post
Ronald Reagan did two things that I heartily disagree with (with the benefit of hindsight, of course): 1) closed the mental hospitals, and; 2) enacted the WEP and GPO to social security.

Passage of this bill, the Social Security Fairness Act and signature by a president (both Biden and Trump have said they supported the Act) will return fairness to social security by eliminating the WEP and GPO.

Currently, if you earned 40 credits, AND you earned a public pension, they greatly reduced your social security - usually by 70%!! If your benefit was $700, you are getting $145/month simply because you paid into two different systems.

This Act does NOT give people with public pensions double-dipping access to social security UNLESS they also have earned their social security via 40 credits like everyone else.

This Act gives full credit that is due to anyone who worked their full 40 credits - as it should be.

Currently, someone with a government pension, even though they worked 10 years before and 10 years after in the private sector or otherwise worked enough to earn their 40 social security credits, has that social security benefit drastically reduced simply because they also worked in public service. Mostly it's cops, puddle-monkeys, and teachers.

Is it fair if you worked for IBM until you were 35 or 40, and then went and joined a police department for 20 years until you were 55 or 60 to only get what you earned from the police force, but get 70% of your social security benefit taken because you did that?

The other thing it does is protect mostly women. If your spouse worked for a city, county, state or the feds, your spousal benefit from their social security would be normally be negative or zero dollars. You did not get a thing even though the spouse earned their 40 credits.

This Act gives the rightfully earned fair benefit to those who earned it, regardless of whatever other career path they may have chosen over time.
I worked 8 years of my career for state government. Would that qualify me for this additional Social Security? I do receive SS and a small government pension.
  #28  
Old 12-24-2024, 08:43 AM
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Originally Posted by retiredguy123 View Post
When my cousin's husband died, she was eligible for 3 checks in her name, a SS check, a military survivor check, and a civilian Government pension survivor check. While he was alive, there were 4 checks, but only one was in her name, the SS spouse check.

But, the most absurd situation is that military people can retire after 20 years, and then immediately return as a GS-15 or SES civilian employee and earn another full pension. They have an inside track with military preference, and sometimes they return in one day to the same desk.
You say that cause you wasn’t military retirees. Your CRS benifits only because you never paid in to SS. Military retirement has paid into SS from day on. If that retiree goes to work for federal government they start over, very few get GS15 position after retirement unless they are high ranking officers. Which IMO shouldn’t be allowed do to there position and control over contracts (which opens up another hold can or worms). Even then they are under new retirement called furs when they pay into and still pay SS. Military retirement has nothing to do with other two, it’s separate. Now survives benefits for military, they pay for that out of their military retirement. Nobody was holding anybody back from joining military. It was open to everyone. But some can’t take orders or willing to move at drop of hat.
  #29  
Old 12-24-2024, 08:47 AM
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Originally Posted by Pugchief View Post
The better solution is to get rid of pensions for all govt employees (federal, state, municipal, county) and put them in a 401k type plan that the employer matches similarly to the private sector.

As far as SS is concerned, it prob makes sense to gradually move that away from the current ponzi structure toward a privatized system, while still honoring benefits to those who have paid in.
Might want add unfunded teachers union also
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Old 12-24-2024, 08:50 AM
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Originally Posted by MSGirl View Post
I worked 8 years of my career for state government. Would that qualify me for this additional Social Security? I do receive SS and a small government pension.
Probably need to go to SS office, I sure it in you’re records and they compensated for that but never know worth checking if you can put up with line at SS office.
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