By Reg Jones
“First year rule” protects supplement
January 17th, 2012 | Earnings test SOCIAL SECURITY Special retirement supplement
Q. I know that the Social Security supplement is reduced for any earnings above $14,640 (FY 2012). My question is that if I retire at the end of February 2012, would I already lose some of the supplement since I would have already made over $20,000 by the end of February? Or would the earnings test be only for the period of March 2012-December 2012?
A. No, you wouldn’t lose any of your special retirement supplement because you’d be protected by the “first year rule.” To learn why that’s so, go to http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10069.html.
Retirement at 60
September 23rd, 2011 | Earnings test
Q: I am eligible to collect Social Security in September on my deceased husband’s Social Security. My question is as follows: At what age will I still be under the earnings limit of $14,160 per year? Also, what is the definition of earnings (Salary, self employment, etc.)?
A: You will subject to the earnings test until to reach you full Social Security retirement age, which ranges between 65 and 67, depending on your year of birth. The test applies only to earnings from wages and self employment. Up until the year in which you reach full retirement age, your Social Security survivor’s benefit will be reduced by $1 for every $2 of earnings about the limit, which is $14, 160 this year. In the year you reach your full retirement age, the reduction will be $1 for every $3 you earn above a different limit, currently $37,680.
Tags: SOCIAL SECURITY
CSRS Offset and Social Security
July 6th, 2011 | Benefits CSRS annuity computation Earnings test Government pension offset RETIREMENT SOCIAL SECURITY Windfall elimination provision
Q: I am getting ready to retire. I worked for the government from 1968 to 1972, then worked in the private sector and earned my 40 quarters in Social Security. I returned to work for the federal government in 1984 as a Civil Service Retirement System Offset employee. I was told that because I earned my 40 quarters from the private sector that my government annuity would not be reduced: I will get a full government annuity and a full Social Security check. Is that right?
A: By law, your CSRS annuity will be reduced at age 62 by the amount of Social Security benefit you earned while covered by CSRS Offset. Whether you will be affected by the windfall elimination provision depends on how many years of substantial earnings you have under Social Security. If you have 30 or more years, there won’t be any reduction in your Social Security benefit. If not, your Social Security benefit will be reduced. You won’t be subject to the government pension offset.
Tags: Civil Service Retirement System, CSRS, CSRS offset, Government pension offset, pension offset, SOCIAL SECURITY, Social Security quarters, WEP, windfall elimination provision
Social Security and WEP specifics
December 28th, 2010 | Benefits Earnings test RETIREMENT SOCIAL SECURITY Windfall elimination provision
Q: I recently went into the Social Security office and was given three different answers by three different people regarding offsets and the windfall elimination provision. I received an increase in my Social Security monthly payment for 2011 based on my 2009 earnings. In 2009, I made more then the minimum and qualified for another year (26 years now) toward my 30-year full exemption from the offset and windfall, so should Social Security also have given me an additional 5 percent because I now have one more year of substantial earnings toward my 30-year exemption?
I was told by the Social Security office that they do not recalculate it yearly and won’t until I get all 30 years completed. I will have 27 years when they calculate 2010 earnings next year. The real question is, are they supposed to calculate the additional year that I have earned toward my 30 years of substantial earnings immediately and give me money now, or do they wait until all 30 years are completed?
A: If you are subject to the windfall elimination provision, the reduction in your Social Security benefit is determined at the point you first become eligible for that benefit and is permanent. Any subsequent increases you are entitled to based either on cost-of-living adjustments or additional Social Security-covered earnings are simply added to that original, reduced base.
Benefit reductions from home sale
December 27th, 2010 | Benefits Earnings test RETIREMENT SOCIAL SECURITY Windfall elimination provision
Q: A friend told me that her monthly Social Security benefit was reduced by $250 because of the profits made from the sale of a house that she inherited from her mother. Can this be true?
A: The Social Security earnings limit only applies to earnings from wages or self-employment, and then only for those individuals who haven’t reached full retirement age. In the ordinary course of events, income received through the sale of a home wouldn’t be considered to be earnings. However, if she reported any portion of the proceeds as earnings on her federal income tax return (because she served as a real estate agent, for example) that amount would be subject to the earnings limit.
Tags: earnings, earnings limits, IRS, SOCIAL SECURITY, Social Security benefits, Social Security earnings limit, taxes
FERS supplement earnings test
December 21st, 2010 | Creditable service: FERS Earnings test FERS annuity computation POST-RETIREMENT Re-employment RETIREMENT SOCIAL SECURITY
Q: I retired at age 52 under a Federal Employees Retirement System law enforcement (1811) retirement. I am now 55 and am employed. I generally understand the earnings test that will apply to my FERS supplement beginning the year I reach my minimum retirement age, but I am not clear how it is calculated the first year. I will reach my MRA in 2011 at the age of 56. Are my earnings for the entire year of 2011 calculated, or do they only calculate the earnings after I turn 56? I have not been able to get an answer from the Office of Personnel Management on this.
A: There’s a special rule for the first year you retire. How your income will be treated is spelled out in a Social Security Administration publication. You’ll find it here.
Tags: Earnings test, Federal Employees Retirement System, FERS, post-retirement, SOCIAL SECURITY, Social Security earnings test
Social Security earnings limits
June 22nd, 2010 | Coverage Earnings test Government pension offset POST-RETIREMENT Re-employment RETIREMENT SOCIAL SECURITY
Q: If I retire with 30 years of federal service under the Federal Employees Retirement System at my minimum retirement age of 56 and I go back to work outside of the federal government, will I lose my Social Security supplement?
A: If you exceed the Social Security earnings limit, your special retirement supplement will be reduced by $1 for every $2 you earn. In 2010, that limit is $14,160.
Tags: Federal Employees Retirement System, FERS, minimum retirement age, SOCIAL SECURITY, Social Security earnings limit, Social Security supplement
Social Security and TSP funds
June 21st, 2010 | Earnings test RETIREMENT SOCIAL SECURITY Special category employee retirement
Q: For those covered under the law enforcement provision of the Federal Employees Retirement System, is the Social Security earnings test applied toward funds received from their Thrift Savings Plan if those amounts exceed the earnings test for the special law enforcement officer/firefighter Social Security supplement after their minimum retirement age?
A: No. The Social Security earnings test only applies to earnings from wages or self-employment.
Tags: Earnings test, Federal Employees Retirement System, FERS, firefighter, law enforcement, SOCIAL SECURITY, Thrift Savings Plan, TSP
Social Security disability
March 23rd, 2010 | Benefits Disability retirement Earnings test
Q. I retired under the early-out retirement program at CSRS; currently, I am working part time and paying in to Social Security. Am I eligible for Social Security disability?
A. Putting aside the question of whether you are sufficiently disabled to meet the Social Security Administration’s stringent criteria for granting disability benefits, to even apply you would need to have a certain number of credits under Social Security, the number depending in large part on your age and the onset of your disability. For more information go to www.ssa.gov/retire2/credits3.htm.
Tags: disability, SOCIAL SECURITY
FERS retirement and earnings test/Social Security supplement
March 16th, 2010 | Earnings test
Q. I have a rather complicated question concerning my FERS retirement. I took an early retirement under FERS at the end of 2009. I retired on Dec. 31, 2009 at the age of 59. Because of the pay periods in 2009, the last pay period of December actually ended on Jan. 2, 2010. This pay period therefore became pay period 1 for 2010. Therefore, my last pay check and annual leave show as earned income in 2010.
My retirement date started on Jan.1, 2010. Since my last check and annual leave earnings show as earned in 2010, do they count towards the earnings ceiling of $14,100 for the Social Security component of my retirement in 2010? Between my last salary and annual leave, I earned over $20,000 for 2010. If these earnings count towards the Social Security earnings limit, when do I pay back the earnings to the Social Security Administration.
A. You’ll find the information you need to answer your question at www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10069.html.
Tags: FERS, RETIREMENT, SOCIAL SECURITY