An Insignificant Sum?

I spent 30 years working for a US megacorp: however, I joined the company in the UK. I was on the UK payroll for about six years, and therefore a very small part of my pension is paid by the UK company (with COLA). I was astounded, when I applied for Social Security, to find that the US government was going to reduce my benefit by the amount of my UK pension.

How did that make sense? I had not paid into SS during those years, so they were excluded from the calculation of my benefit. If, instead of working in the UK, I had stayed home with a small child in the US, I would have the same number of missing years in my SS record, but I would have kept the entire payment.

There wasn't anything I could do about it, and I figured it wasn't a large sum, but it was annoying. Obviously, I was pleased by the repeal of this “Windfall Elimination Provision” (Windfall? What windfall?) effective January of 2024. My monthly payment has increased by $50 and last month SS deposited an additional $700 in my checking account, for January 2024 through February 2025. I had written the deduction off as a lost cause, and not much money, but it actually works out that the government kept $6,300.

I seem to remember someone complaining about the elimination of the WEP here recently. I am not complaining.

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