Please tell your story about how the Government Pension Offset (GPO) or Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) have impacted you, your family and your life.
My husband was 58 when he died. His required quarters were covered by his service in the Navy and years of working for the Telephone Co. I am unable to collect social security as his spouse because I chose to teach in California. I worked in a small rural school district that did not pay very well and had no medical insurance from the district when I retired. I would not trade my years of helping children learn to read for anything. But I could surely use the social security that was paid for by my husband to offset the continually raising cost of medical care and insurance.
From Karon W. ... I was a single mother raising two sons and a teacher. However, I worked every summer outside my teaching job, held second and third jobs sometimes to provide for my family. I paid into Social Security and worked my rear off. Why shouldn't I collect my share.
From Fay S. ... I worked 15 years as a teacher in California. Then I worked an additional 14 year for a California County. Since then I have worked 10 years in private industry and plan to work for another 5 years. When I retire (at age 85) I feel I should receive Social Security for the 15 years I worked for and paid into the Social Security System. However, they tell me I will receive nothing - because I get about $2000 per month in my two retirement accounts - that is a combined total not each. This is so unfair. I am a widow but I get nothing from my husband's Social Security - which I don't mind as I didn't earn it. But I do feel I am entitled to receive benefits that I earned and paid into on my own.
From Mike ... My starting salary in 1974 was so low as a teacher I couldn't live anywhere around where I taught… I needed more income to survive.
So I took on 2 and even 3 more jobs, because I loved teaching and was good at it… but certainly not paid adequately for it.
I spent at least 20% of what I got from teaching on supplies that were not provided… including buckets that blanketed my classroom in the winter from roofs water leaks in Fremont, CA.
I bought my own computers and materials as there was no money for that. Paper too… no pencils… we bought our own.
And every year I was on the chopping block too get laid off: insult to injury
I contributed to both my retirement fund and paid my SS taxes like everyone else…. which I counted on.
Now even though I worked many jobs, many hours away and after my teaching job…
I am penalized by getting ½ of what others get from SS for the same time ala Ronald Regan?
I think there should be a federal lawsuit filed under the equal protection clause of the constitution: this IS discrimination
From Judi L. ... As a divorced (after 20 years), single woman who should be receiving approximately $1,000 a month from a spousal entitlement, the GPO prevents me from receiving any of it. The formula would have me paying Social Security.
As a person who has worked at other jobs and in other states and so have my own Social Security credits, I should be receiving approximately $700 a month, but because of the WEP, I receive $234 from which my Medicare is withheld which means I get $142.00 a month.
It is necessary for me to work part time to supplement my retirement income; I truly need the additional funds repeal would give me.
From Ruth R. ... I retired from STRS and after a short while, I found I needed the extra money and then had the opportunity to work for a private University. Naturally, they take social security out of my check each month, but that is money I can never claim. Why? because of the WEP/GPO. Is that not grand theft from me by way of the U.S. Government? They take it and they keep it!
From Bob ... As a new teacher in 1972, our pay days came once a month on the last day for 10 months every year. July and August were not pay months due top Summer vacation. At a salary of about $8,000. / month, it was impossible to go income free from June 30th to Sept 30th without finding additional employment. I worked Summers for 32 years and paid into the SS Railroad Tax (SS) account. I also contributed through pre-teaching years through the US Peace Corps and part time employment in High School and through college years. Now my benefit is compromised by several hundred dollars per month. This doesn't seem fair as so many other professions such as Police and Fire are exempt from this rule. So many in those professions work 2-3 jobs at the same time without penalty.
From Dave D. ... I'm a retired teacher having taught for 35 years....and I've also worked a 2nd job the entire duration of my teaching career....11 years at Artesa winery...8 years at Silverado Country Club...3 years at Piccolinos restaurant etc. By age 66 I should be able to draw about $850 a month from social security but instead this will receive about half that thanks to the WEP/GPO!
From Sharon B. ...I am 68 years old, a retired school teacher. When I started teaching (1969) we weren't able to get credits for social security, so I held second jobs until I reached my 40 quarters. It was not easy going from teaching all day to another job, but I was concerned even then about my pension and medicare.
When I found out I couldn't draw my social security, or that it would be subtracted from my STRS, I was stunned. I think this is extremely unfair. I worked for it. I deserve it, regardless of my pension. I've been retired 7 years, and I'm beginning to feel the financial crunch, yet I can't draw what is owed to me, that I worked hard for. What is fair about this?
From Gene S. ... My father was a poor strawberry farmer, yet he paid into Social Security for his sons as they worked on the farm. He trusted Social Security would provide for his three sons as they reach retirement. For two sons, they will qualify for Social Security, however I will not qualify because I choose a career in education, even though I continued paying into Social Security via my employer after I retired and continued working as a consultant. It doesn't seem fair.
The three sons put themselves though college, since our father could not help us. Upon my step-mother's death while I was in college, my father instructed us to apply for Social Security benefits to help with college expenses. My younger brother received benefits, but I did not. I was told by Social Security, that my step-mother, who raised me from the age of 3, did not legally adopted me, so I did not qualify. It didn't seem fair.
Despite being a poor farmer, my father instilled in us, the value of a good education, hard work and respecting all. He never asked for a hand out, despite losing the farm due to property taxes, declining prices of the market, and struggling to make payments. We never asked for welfare, never broke the law, put ourselves though college, paid our share of taxes, performed our fair share plus more to community service. Pop died believing that we were privileged to live in the United States, even after being interned during World War II in the Relocation Camps along with thousands of other Japanese-AMERICANS. He never lost his faith and never complained. He just kept working harder. It didn't seem fair.
Pop had faith in Social Security to help and it did. But he also deposited money into Social Security for his sons, despite that money could have been used for food, medical needs and even college. Don't let his faith in Social Security be incomplete. I have it good because my father taught us to save for the future. But what about the teachers who worked in another field for years paying into Social Security, then switched to a teaching career later in life. With their abbreviated teaching career and most of their working years putting money into Social Security, will their retirement pension be able to sustain their "golden years?" It doesn't seem fair.
Please make it fair for those teachers and fathers who paid into Social Security.
From Charles A. ... I worked as a reporter on the Oxnard Press-Courier before going back to school to get my Master's degree in education and my teaching certificate. Knowing that I needed more quarters to be covered by Social Security, I worked at the newspaper all summer for the next 14 years to become completely covered.
When I retired, 13 years ago, I was crushed and aghast to learn that, because of the WEP/GPO, I would receive only one third of what any other person would. The word "Security" did not apply to me after all my hard work and sacrifice of my time. I still feel betrayed and used by the utter inequality of the WEP/GPO and the way I have been denied what I was due. I have been deprived of thousands of dollars that would have helped me in retirement and stand to lose even more until the WEP/GPO is repealed. I hope the repeal happens soon so I can get at least a small part of what is due me while I am still healthy enough to benefit from Social Security.
From Steve C. ... I retired from teaching in California after 27 years in the classroom. We had to move to Utah because the cost of living in the San Francisco Bay area was way too high too high to retire there. During other times in my life, I worked at other professions and qualified for Social Security with my 45 or so quarters. If I were receiving my full Social Security benefit, I would get about $950 per month which, along with my CALSTRS pension of about $3,500 per month, would make a nice living. As it is, I only receive $290 per month because of the Windfall Elimination business. Of this amount, $99 or so goes to my Medicare part A hospital monthly cost, and $132 goes to pay my supplemental part F Medicare to cover all the gaps in coverage. I have no drug benefit except through the VA which I must drive 50 miles to visit in order to get regular cholesterol medicine, Simvastatin. It would REALLY help my wife and me if we received the full Social Security benefit. She is on Medicare disability and receives about $2000 per month toward our household costs.
From Robin F. ... Thank you Cal Retired Teachers Association for fighting to change this unfair law. Here is my story and I hope you hear from a lot of other retired teachers on this as well. I worked my way through college and into a master’s degree which ultimately led me to teaching and I also worked many summers trying to make ends meet. Throughout all these non-teaching jobs I paid in to social security, or, should I say, had social security withheld from each and every paycheck. Now that I am retired from teaching and drawing on STRS (which I also obviously paid in to), until the law changes I cannot receive the social security money I am owed. This makes absolutely no sense to me. Why should I be penalized as a teacher for the money I made from other jobs which withheld social security? I always tell young students that if they take up teaching as a profession in California, they will not get access to any of the social security money that was taken from them until the law changes and no doubt some will choose to belong to a profession that does not punish you by arbitrarily keeping your hard earned withholdings.
From Betty G. ... When I accepted a job with the Santa Maria-Bonita Elementary School District, I was unaware that I was going to lose most of my social security retirement amount. Had I known, I doubt I would have taken the job. It was going to impoverish me in retirement. But I didn't know. Like many teachers in our district, I entered this district in my late-40's which means I would never accumulate a high retirement simply because I could not put in as many years as those who enter teaching in California right out of college. I was planning on getting my total social security amount which would shore up the small STRS retirement income. What a shock when I found out what California has done to those of us who are worked - outside the public schools - in regards to our social security. I receive $309.00 a month in social security. The other amount that should have come to me does not. It does make a difference! Once you retire, your income remains basically the same; however, gasoline prices, food prices, taxes do not! I never expected to get rich choosing teaching as my profession, but I did not expect to be penalized for it either. We much change this and give the full amount of earned social security to those of us who have earned it. Had I chosen any other profession than teaching, I would be receiving it.
From Martha B. ...I am a retired teacher who is affected by both the GPO and WEP depending on which complicated formula the Social Security uses to determine my benefit. Either way, my SS benefit is decimated.
Having become a teacher in mid-life, my California Teacher's pension is insufficient to live on. Therefore, at age 84 and single, due to these unfair penalties, what I earned before entering the teaching field as well as the benefit I am entitled to as a spouse is drastically reduced.
The GPO and WEP defeat the purpose of Social Security, which was to be a safety net. Because I became a teacher, I have been denied that safety net. To restore fairness, these penalties must be repealed.
Unfortunately, the individuals who will make decisions on the GPO and WEP do not need Social Security for an adequate retirement. I do.
From Jancey N. ... My husband and I have been limited in what we can do in retirement because, as a teacher, he was unable to collect the full social security pension he is due. We feel that this is unfair discrimination since he put in many more than the required quarters and is still working, which might not be necessary if we had the total social security.
From Linda L. ... I am a recently retired teacher of 14 years with 17 years of social security in the private sector. When I went to SS ( several times last year ) to get the amount I'd be receiving, they told me in writing I'd be receiving $1243. O.K. I could plan my retirement budget around that. That was last October. December I received a letter from SS stating they had overpaid me 2,754 and that I had to refund it or my SS would be garnished. I had become eligible for the STRS pension in June, so they reduced the SS payment by 60%.They reduced my monthly SS to $759. Mind you, I started collecting the full amount back in 2011 when I turned 66 and still working, and was paid the full amount until I retired 6-2012. I hope you can make sense of this. It seems so unfair to lose those years before teaching. When I was earning my credential, no one explained that this Windfall Elimination Tax would be applied. If I had changed jobs in the private sector and entered a new retirement plan, I wouldn't have lost the previous one or had it reduced. Why doesn't that apply to public servants?
From Gene & Andrea S. ... My husband and I are affected by WEP/GPO. He is a veteran and worked for the Federal Government as a GS 13 and I as a public school teacher. We also managed a landscaping business for 22 years and paid into Social Security. However we are affected by WEP/GPO. It is very unfair and our pensions do not keep up with the cost of living.
From Barbara F. ... When I retired in California in 1999, I had worked 32 years for Alhambra City Schools and 4 years in NY State where I did pay into Social Security. I had over 40 quarters in SS from part time jobs and teaching at the college level part time while teaching elementary school in California. I am a widow, my husband having passed away in 1992 with many, many years paid into the Social Security System. Because of the WEP and GPO provision in this state, I only get a very, very small amount from SS and that and more money from me has to pay for my Medicare coverage. I do not understand how Social Security being a federal program is not treating everyone under the system the same. It is NOT fair- especially when widows who never worked are allowed to draw against their husbands benefits. I am not looking for a free handout- only what I deserve from my husband and I both having been part of the SS system.
From Sharon ... my husband died at the age of 53 and was never old enough to collect any of his Social Security. He and I have both paid substantial amounts of money into the fund. Thus, I believe it is patently discriminatory to deny me my rightful benefits. If the government continues to deny me the appropriate benefits, I feel that all the monies we have contributed be refunded!
From Linda M. ... I worked my way through college and paid into Social Security. Although I do not have the quarters necessary to receive a pension, I will be receiving SS through my husband. Oh wait a minute, I receive my pension through STRS. That means any SS from my husband, should he predecease me, will be deducted from my pension. And the quarters I paid into when I was working my way through college? GONE!!! This for those of us who taught the children of California.
From Carole ... I’m sure we can all remember our first “real” job (not babysitting or lawn mowing). How excited we were to get out first pay check, and how shocked we were to see the amount we actually received after taxes and social security was deducted. But, we were assured that it was important and necessary so that when we were old and gray, we would receive “security” payments. Through the years I continued to pay into Social Security which was required (not optional), with the exception of the 24 years I was a teacher. I did not have the luxury of attending college right out of high school. My parents simply couldn’t afford it. So I worked, married, had children, and then went to college and got my degree and teaching credential, all the time paying into Social Security. It was difficult making ends meet and we could have really used the money that was being taken out of our paychecks, but after all we were going to receive the benefits when we retired. Well, I am now retired as is my husband of 50 years. I not only do not receive the Social Security that I paid into, but if my husband dies, I will receive no death benefits either. All this is because I chose to become a teacher. I thought I was contributing my special gift to society, never imagining the price it was going to cost me down the line. How unfair! I read that the famous movie star and millionaire Doris Day receives Social Security. My friends who receive pensions from other professions receive Social Security. Even Bill O’Reilly says he can get Social Security. They make a lot more money than I do from STRS. UNFAIR! UNFAIR! UNFAIR!!!! I might just as well have given my money to Bernie Madoff. At least I might have gotten some return. Bottom line is if you don’t pay into it, you shouldn’t get it; and if you do pay in to it, you should get it. That was the government’s promise to me years and years ago. What happened?!?
From a CalRTA member ... I worked from age 16 to age 27 paying into Social Security. I was married for 17 years and my husband worked for 50 years paying into Social Security. I went back to school and obtained my teaching credentials after I divorced. I worked as a teacher for 15 years and am now collecting my teaching retirement amount of $1400 per month. When I retired I was denied both my social security payments and those I could received from my ex-husband’s account, except for having my full credit for Medicare plus $226 per month.
Had I not put as much as possible into savings and IRA’s I would be living a very stringent financial life. As it is, I am constantly concerned that I not spend money in order to not become a burden on my one child in my older age. To top it off, I have just received a notice from my CalPERS Longterm Care policy (which I selected in order to not be a burden on my child who lives on the opposite side of the United States) that they will be increasing my monthly policy payments by 85% over the two years from 2014 through 2015!
Therefore, I have been penalized by both the WEP as well as the GPO.
I was a teacher in California for over 20 years. I was hit in the head by a student practicing his pitch with a hardball and over time caused a brain tumor to grow. Long story short - I was forced to retire early due to the brain surgery to remove the tumor. NO medical insurance, NO disability Social Security, No help from the DO. I am a military wife, husband is retired AF, my Social Security is reduced dramatically because I taught in California, I do not qualify for Social Security Disability (?), I fully paid into Social Security, teaching was my third and final career. I fully paid for all College loans, defaulted on NONE. Amazing. Tried to do it right, Mom & Dad would be proud, but I seem to be hanging in the wind at the mercy of the politicians and WEP/GPO
I am a retired teacher who worked both before teaching and during school Summers off without a paycheck, till all year scedules curtailed that. I tutored to earn the last of my 40 units, equal to 10 years work. Before I retired, I requested information about my Social Security benefits. I included this amount in my decision of when it would be feasible to retire.
When I retired, I took the pension option which gives my husband and me a lower monthly income, but will continue to be there for my husband after my death. When offered PERS Longterm insurance, we optioned to take this out of my pension for both of us, further cutting our monthly income, and also took my pension to include my husband to receive it if I die first. Then, when applying for my earned Social Security benefit, I found out that my benefit would be subject to the “ Windfall Elimination Penalty”, and the "Government Pension Offset"!
The consequence of these provisions is that I receive only $54 a month in Social Security. I also receive less than the full amount that my pension would have been if not including my husband,, but at least if I die first, my husband will continue to receive both his Social Security and my pension. However,if he dies first, I will not receive any of his Social Security, thus cutting my monthly income into less than half, with most of the same expenses continuing. This will not leave me socially secure!
I am a strong advocate for repeal of the WEP and GPO provisions.
The Bulk of Our Politicians Do Nothing While America’s Seniors are Being Cheated Out of Their Earned Social Security benefits.
Enough is enough. It is time for our congress and some members of the House Ways and Means Committee to get off their do-nothing rear-ends and work to pass H.R. 1795: the Social Security Fairness Act of 2013. Passage of this bill that would allow America’s seniors to receive Social Security benefits they had actually Earned, benefits they were promised when they began paying into the system before the enactment of unfair laws that reduced many seniors’ benefits by up to 66%.
Some politicians have been telling us that we don’t have the money to pay America's impoverished seniors their Earned Social Security benefits. But whom are they trying to kid? It would cost some $62 billion over a 10-year period if this bill were enacted, far less than the $85 billion PER MONTH our government is now spending buying our own bonds to falsely prop up the stock market. Meanwhile, the squandering of more than $1 TRILLION dollars annually has not moved our economy forward one inch, and any so-called gains the government tries to sell us will quickly dissolve once the profligate spending has ceased.
On the other hand, if we were to pass H.R. 1795: the Social Security Fairness Act of 2013 and give seniors the Social Security benefits they Earned and actually Deserve, that money would be filtered back into the national economy and we would see a permanent, significant improvements in our economy.
Any politician who tells you we can't afford to pass H.R. 1795: the Social Security Fairness Act of 2013 is either ignorant or duplicitous or likely both.
In my case, I paid into Social Security for 29 years, then retired from the US military and became a California teacher. After hearing about GPO I calculated my SS and CA Teacher retirement benefits, and discovered that my SS reduction will be greater than my CA retirement benefit! So I have two choices: turn down the CA retirement (but still keeping paying for a retirement plan that I won't be able to use), or quit my teaching job and find a "substantial" SS-paying job for 5 more years. Neither of those is a pleasant (or fair) option. I served my country for a long time in the military; now I'm being financially highly-discouraged from continuing to serve at the state level.
Before I entered public education as a teacher, I worked and paid into Social Security 32 separate years. Some of these years were as a student, others were as I worked part-time while I raised my daughter. Only 16 of these were years where I was considered to have "substantial earnings."
After my daughter left home and went to college, I began working full-time once again as a teacher in the California Public School system. Because I entered later in life, I will not put in many years before retirement. I am currently 62 and this is my 10th year of working as a teacher. I now find out that because I am eligible to collect a state teacher pension, that I will only be eligible to collect 40% of the Social Security benefit I would have been entitled to.
This is an unfair penalty for having chosen to move from private employment to public employment to serve my community. I am, therefore, asking for repeal these unfair laws, the WEP and GPO.
I have worked for many years toward a healthy CALSTRS pension coming in the near future. The payout to educators within school systems is tremendous compared to how much individuals receive from social security. WEP and GPO were created to instill some fairness into the playing field since it was possible for individuals to "game the system" if they contributed to pensions like STRS but also held "side jobs" that could qualify for social security (since SS retirement benefits pays out a good deal for low income earners not proportional to how much they actually earned). Still, as the stories here suggest, WEP and GPO could probably be fine tuned to better serve some folks who fall in the cracks re. coverage.
I entered public school teaching in 1993, although I had been working in private schools full time for 8 years, and public retail since 1970. I have earned tons of social security credits, mostly in OHIO, but some retail in CA. My husband has been in full time public sector work since 1974. Not only am I not going to get most of my entitled social security, I will also NOT receive my spousal benefits. Why? because I spent 20 years of my 45 earning years as a math teacher. I am certainly NOT double-dipping, because only half of my productive years will have been teaching. Also, if teachers have to take a second job to make ends meet, why does their social security count against their pension? They have earned it. Really unfair. It's a good thing I never expected to make much, and that my husband has better benefits and has been able to invest money so we can retire...
Beginning at the age of 15, I worked very hard to earn FULL social security benefits upon my retirement. However, my benefits have been taken away because at age 51, I answered the call to serve my community and became a public school teacher. I am being unfairly punished simply because I changed from private sector employment into the teaching profession.
I hope to retire at age 64. But with only 13 years of service, my school pension will only be about half of what my SS benefit would have been. I’m not asking for a handout. Just give me back my ability to retire with dignity.
Give me back what I rightfully earned after paying into the system.
Retiree teachers should push to enact a legal requirement that all new teachers be informed of this unfair withholding, etc . Had I known I probably would not have become a teacher. Sad and unfair.
I am a highly skilled professional software engineer. I have paid into social security for many years, but was interested in a job in state service for the State of Nevada. The work looked interesting but I am afraid to take it due to the effect the WEP will have on my social security. I asked if I could refuse the pension plan (which is actually just a 401k type thing - not even a defined benefit plan) but they said that is not an option. So I can't work for the State. They need people with my level of experience, but have trouble getting them due to lower salaries and the WEP.
From Santa Rosa High School teacher and Adjunct SRJC teacher. I will be 71 in January. I love my job but wouldn't mind retiring. I can't afford to lose the small Social Security check I now get while I work. As soon as I retire, that will go away. I feel that I will have to work until I die!
r.k. I worked in a factory and joined the U.S. Air Force before becoming a teacher. It was very helpful to begin receiving Social Security Benefits which were aptly earned. After retirement, the social security people said I will have a reduced amount of income since I have a teacher retirement income. Now I have to make budget adjustments to buy every day needed items from a reduced resource that I earned. When does it stop? We are just asking for what is already ours.
I retired from Pacific Bell, now AT&T in 1987, with 22 years of service. I started working when I was 15 1/2 years old and worked various jobs until hired by Pacific Bell in 1987. After retiring from Pacific Bell I worked other jobs, paying into Social Security. I had met all requirements to receine Social Security -- I had 26 years of substantial contributions.
In 1997 I began working in the Compton Unified District and worked there for 13 years. Upon retiring from Compton Unified I discovered I fell under the WFA, and my Social Security would be decreased.
I feel the decrease was and is totally unfair. I earned my Social Security money -- my employer and I both made contributions. Had I known this was going to happen, I would have NEVER did what was required to teach. It took me 4 years of classes, tests, money and time away from my family before earning my teaching credential. After retiring, I felt my time was punishment.
I worked as a graphic designer in NYC, paid into Social Security and paid all of my taxes on time. Moved to California, went back to school, and became a certificated teacher. Now in my 19th year of teaching first grade, I realize I will never be able to retire EVER. The STRS won't pay me enough to live on and I am told I will probably receive very little Social Security. I am single and have always taken good care of myself, and have devoted myself to service.
I also want what I rightfully earned after paying into the system.
My story is similar to those that precede mine. I worked and contributed into Social Security until I reached my mid thirties. I then returned to school to get my teaching credential in CA. I had expected to receive full Social Security benefits in addition to a pension from the STRS until I attended a retirement seminar. I was shocked to learn about the WEP and even more shocked after retiring to see how much they will actually take - almost half! I'm delaying Social Security and hoping an acceptable solution will be reached before I reach my full SS retirement Now I wish I had continued working and not taken the early retirement my district offered. This reduction in SS benefits is also a deterrent to people who want to make mid-life career changes and go into the teaching profession - something that would help the teacher shortage. Please help!
For 20 plus years, I worked two jobs as a teacher and as a customer service agent. I had no social life working to ensure my retirement as a single person with no family to help out in my later years. I was aware of the Windfall Provisions Act and the exception that if one worked consistently for 20 years, the deduction under the Act would no longer apply. Just as I was reaching my 20th year, the bill was changed to 30 years. I paid into two pensions (teaching and Social Security) for many years with the objective of having a decent retirement. That is MY money, and the government says that I am not entitled to it- the government gets to keep a portion of it. I now see my future as having to work although disabled and elderly just to make ends meet after giving up life when younger to prevent this possibility. It is not right that I will be receiving less than a person who worked one job when I paid into the same system at more cost to myself. Especially in today's economy, every earned penny counts! One of the ultimate results of not repealing the Windfall Provisions Act is that, in my retirement, I will need to rely more on government systems than my own resources (costly for the government). PLEASE REPEL THE WINDFALL PROVISIONS ACT!
I began working and paying into social security at the age of 15. When I was 42, I earned a BA and teaching credential. When I was 47, I took a classified position at a school district. I was placed into STRS instead of PERS because I had one paid day as a substitute teacher prior to taking the classified position. I was not told by my employer that since I was in the STRS retirement plan, I would not continue to pay into Social Security nor would I be able to receive the SS benefits I paid into for over 30 years. When I discovered this just a few weeks after my employment began, I tried to get out of STRS but was not allowed to. Another shocker was when I learned recently that when I retire, I can not take on a classified position, even though my career with a school district was only as a classified employee and never a credentialed employee. Classified salaries are a fraction of what teacher salaries are which means that retirement amounts are much lower as well. As a single person living on one income, thanks to not being able to collect my full social security benefit or my spouses benefit, I will retire and continue working a part time position until I die. Not what I thought would happen but my reality. Had I known then, what I know now, I sure would have done things differently! Full SS benefits earned need to be paid.
Dam right i agree with you 100 percent i also paid into ss 22 years and took a job in government 15 years became disabled now forced to live on 1300 a month denied social security had i known this i would have never never took a gov job now forced to live like a bum
I turned 65 October of 2017 so I filed for my Social Security the first of October thinking I was going to receive around $1085.00 a month (this is what my account said on the SSI site) well to my great surprise I was only going to receive $468.00 a month because of my teachers pension which is $998.43 a month. I waited to 65 to file for SS because I was under the impression that any money's made under $14,000.00 a year would not affect my SS. The SS representative said that they consider it double dipping to have a pension and collecting SS. I had to drop my Medical part "B" to get $138.00 more a month so I am now getting $626.00 (these figures could be a little off) I think this is a crock since I've earned both my pension and my SS. One is State and the other Federal and should not affect each other since my Pension is under the $14,000.00 limit the Government set for earnings. It should not make a different where the money comes from. I paid into SSI for over 35 years Due to budget cuts to the state school system 8 years ago they had to let me go which for that reason I lost my house that I was in for over 30 years had two vehicles' repo'ed I had to declare bankruptcy and had to start over. I have a government that I served during the Viet Nam era three different tours that wants to penalize me for a pension that I earned. You can only imagine how unfair I think this is. Ira Rosenberg
I paid into social security before being hired by Los Angeles County, and during the first several years of employment. I attended law school while working for the county, and then hired on with the county Dirstrict Attorney, and then Public Defender thereafter. I met my wife, Patricia Vallen, who worked for Los Angeles County law enforcement, while we both worked in the same courthouse. We have a combined 48 years with LA County. I worked for LA County for 9 additional years, in an important project to create a second public defender's office, and 17 months part-time, before retiring. All tolled, we worked for LA County for nearly 60 YEARS. When we finally retired, we found out we would be punished by the federal government because of our dedication to local public service. Had my wife chosen to work in private law enforcement, for more money, we would be receiving all those benefits. That is simply unfair.
Teaching was a second career for me. I was a homemaker, wife, and mother of three, returning to work at 32. worked 10 years in the canneries while getting my degree. I received my degree in business with an accounting major, worked 5 years as an accountant, and then decided to become a teacher. By the time I had completed my credential program, and was hired as a high school business teacher, I was turning 49 years old. I taught 16 years, until I turned 65, retiring in 2015. I basically lost my social security which I had earned, due to my teaching career, receiving only $205 net per month (minus my medicare health and prescription drug plans and federal taxes) This is outrageous, I paid into social security from 17-49 years of age. Private pensions do not affect their members' social security payouts, why does a teaching pension wipe ours out?? I feel this is VERY UNFAIR. I am turning 70 this year, but, I continue to work as a substitute teacher just to make ends meet. I had hoped to relax in my golden years. Sadly, not so..... Please change this WEP/GPO law for the sake of fairness, especially, to those of us whom have work so hard to help ourselves, others and improve our local communities.
I worked in 3 different states. One state has its own system, but I was not allowed to pay into for 16 years that I worked there. I was also denied paying into social security at the same time, so I paid into no system. Because the rules for the system are so screwed up, I am allowed to buy back a limited number of years at an astronomical price (basically half all the income I earned while working there to buy into the system after the fact). I still need 4 more months of work in that system to qualify but of course can't get hired to save my life. Then I worked 10 years in another state that allows payment into social security. In the interim I worked in yet a third state that didn't allow payment into their system so they threw a bit of my income into the stock market instead. None of these systems on their own allow for retirement and they can't be combined. So I have 27 years of work that do not count/do not allow me to retire. My only choice was to go for disability because you need fewer years. As my health got worse as I got older I waited 6 years for disability approval and finally got it. Now I have a tiny check. I'm still trying to get 4 months of work in the first system to qualify for their retirement, but if I do, I will lose about 90% of the check from the first system from my total earnings as windfall. (they will come out of social security, but the point is, all that money spent to buy the retirement and my total retirement pension will be about 100 bucks greater per month than if I hadn't worked in the first state at all. probably not even worth it, but I've already paid all the money to buy the work credit in first state. All because of windfall. meanwhile, other people that work in the same state their whole lives get all their years of work to count. It makes no sense
When I entered teaching back in the 70's I was so excited to earn $17,000 a year to do what I loved. I could pay off my student debt and have a decent lifestyle. I was fortunate to get pregnant with twins at 38 and stayed home for two years and then decided that teaching won't help pay for our kids college education. As much as I was sorry to give up my tenure and being Dept. chair at a high school,I decided to stay home for the early years of our children's development. My salary would just be paying for day care and more taxes. So, I quit teaching and launched a 2nd career. This year marks my 20th year in the private sector. My teacher's pension is $671.40 a month. I am full retirement age and can take social security but because I don't have enough bend points my social security is reduced and if my husband passes before me I only get a fraction of his social security even though he worked until 70. If I never worked I would be better off, because I would receive his full SS amount. Something is seriously wrong with the system and our congress men and women do not get this.THIS IS SO WRONG!!! Our government is stealing from social security and the system is in trouble. PLEASE VOTE and voice your opinions!
I agree it is theft class action suite needs to happen if you paid 40 quarters you should not be penalized total ripoff had you never worked you would have been better off sad sad sad
It's crazy to think that wanting to do good in the world and contribute your knowledge and help young people would damage your personal finances in such a negative way. I'm sorry!!! We need to wake up these legislators who all get nice fat pensions.
I taught 20 years in a CA valley school. My husband died and I now receive $100 a month of his $1400 a month soc. sec. If I just earned my soc. sec. earnings I would be better off. I can eek it out on my $2200 a month retire meant but can't travel or do anything extra. The janitor makes more with his retirement and soc. sec.
Hello ! Please note this issue with Social Security. Please pass this email to decision makers. I appreciate the opportunity to share this information about Social Security unfairness with you. These websites clearly explain the horrible implementation of Social Security for many public employees in many states. Possibly, you are already aware of these laws Unfortunately, I was one of the millions of people penalized by the nonalignment of mandatory State of California State Teacher’s retirement and mandatory Social Security. After 21 years of marriage, my husband, a decorated Vietnam Veteran Army officer, was diagnosed with 100% PTSD after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. He had been a fantastic father and great husband working as a trust officer for a bank. The earthquake brought back buried memories from his two tours of Viet Nam duty. He became suicidal and unable to function as an employee, husband, and father. I was shocked when he sued and won half of all of our assets, with no child support for our nine year old son, in divorce proceedings. On top of that, I had to give him years of my California State Teachers Retirement, because it was community property. I was further penalized by not being able to access spousal rights to Social Security … due to these horrible WEP/GPO laws. I taught elementary school for over 40 years. I enjoyed teaching, however, the Federal Government should not penalize public employees. On a positive note, changing these laws has been proposed every year, however, the bills never seem to get out of committee… no matter which political party is in power. Thank you for reading this. All candidates should be fighting to change these laws! Mary
You did not answer my question “Why was this repeal not included in the Current legislation?”
From: Congressman Jared Huffman Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2021 12:00 Subject: Responding to your message
Dear Mary, Thank you for contacting me with your thoughts about social safety net programs. I appreciate hearing from you on this matter.
There is a clear need to strengthen the American social safety net, which helps millions of Americans access health care, lifts families out of poverty, and combats hunger. More than 40 million Americans live in poverty, and in our congressional district, the U.S. Census estimates that the poverty rate is 9.8%, with 10.9% of children under 18 living below the official poverty line. The social safety net helps to provide the financial and health protections necessary for a secure and healthy retirement, medical assistance to our most vulnerable, protections from child abuse, and a lifeline for low-income families and people with disabilities. In Congress, I have fought to maintain and strengthen much-needed social safety programs including Meals on Wheels, affordable housing grants, the child tax credit, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as “food stamps.” In March 2021, I was proud to support President Biden's American Rescue Plan, a bill that, among other priorities, expands subsidies in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces to cover more middle class families, and makes the child tax credit fully refundable for 2021 while increasing the annual amount from the current $2,000 per child to $3,000 per child. Californians have been struggling for over a year in the face of COVID. Finally – after months of Republican obstruction and political gameplay – we have passed relief that actually meets the urgency of this moment. I've also recently introduced a bill called the Affordable Housing Redevelopment Act, a measure to reauthorize the Neighborhood Stabilization Program and authorize $1.5 billion to help create new affordable housing through the rehabilitation or redevelopment of old, vacant or foreclosed properties. This bill not only establishes smart long-term investments, but it also focuses resources on more immediate solutions to meet the urgent needs of the current housing crisis. During my time in Congress I've also fought for legislation that increased the amount of badly-needed affordable housing in West Marin by giving the County of Marin exclusive first rights to purchase a roughly 30-acre property in Point Reyes Station previously owned by the Coast Guard, and repurposing the site for housing and community uses. In the 116th Congress, I was a cosponsor of the Closing the Meal Gap Act, which would have increased the adequacy of SNAP benefits for those who need help combatting food insecurity and hunger. I was also a cosponsor of the Social Security Fairness Act of 2019, which would have repealed Social Security's Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). I will continue to be a stalwart defender of these critical protections. Thank you again for sharing your views on this issue. The people of California’s 2nd District are the most important voices I listen to while serving in Congress. Please do not hesitate to contact my office if I can be of assistance to you in the future. Sincerely,
Jared Huffman Member of Congress
P.S. If you would like to stay up to date on my work in Congress, please subscribe to my newsletter by clicking here, friending me on Facebook, or following me on Twitter at @RepHuffman.
I am confused how a handful of states are affected but not all states; since Social Security is a Federal Program, shouldn't it be consistent with other states? Something is really off here. What if I moved to Tennessee? Will I get my Social Security since I contributed to the program?
Both my wife and I earned our quarters for SS outside of our teaching job, but cannot collect our SS. This is unfair and as a result of this we can barely cover our expenses as our teaching pension does not cover inflation. Please vote to end this provision. Thank You
I worked all my life since I was a teenager at different jobs. I paid into social security. That money was my hard earned money and now that i decide to teach at a later time in my life and now retired, I am not entiteld to the money I earned! This is thievery from the Government. Cooked by Congess who we pay through our tax dollars and they get to have life time benefits! I feel betrayed and disgusted by Congress that marginalize Teachers!
My situation was brought on by becoming a widow at 58. I went on to have 35 years service in the school system and then retired. Because of the WEP I struggle. My husband payed into the system for 35 years at a local factory. My opinion is his soc security has nothing to do with my retirement. It’s unfair that I’ve been put in this position. We both payed into our own benefits. One should have nothing to do with the other. It’s unfair. When I see how much money that had been handed out to noncitizens that never payed into anything it makes me angry and disheartened. Please fix this unjustified law that discriminates against widows that served their schools. It’s unfair!! We struggle and we shouldn’t have to after dedicating yeare and years of service!
I worked at jobs where I was paying into Social Security in Ohio. Then I became a teacher and a librarian in Massachusetts. Upon retirement from my job as a librarian, I receive only 800.00 a month as pension. I was receiving around 344.00 a month from Social Security. Then the Windfall kicked in, the 344.00 was cut in half, and with the increase in Medicare, I now receive 72.00 a month from Social Security. This is grossly unfair. The provision is crudely calculated and does not take into account individual factors, such as how small my pension is. Also, I paid into Social Security. My money, not the government’s. It is ridiculous.
I worked as a teacher in Ca. for 33 years . I also worked many other jobs in order to support myself and my family. I worked when I was in high school. I worked and paid my own way through college , and worked several retail jobs during my tenure as a teacher . I earned enough credits and paid into social security to earn benefits . Consequently , I have had my benefits decreased by both the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision. I feel penalized for working as a teacher . It’s no wonder there’s a national teacher shortage.
I am a soon to be retired teacher who had a midlife career change to improve my income and quality of life. I spent 8 years working full time and going to school at night to finally reach my goal to be a teacher at the age of 50. Upon reaching my goal I was met with the reality that, upon retirement, I would end up in poverty again because of these unfair laws.
Well here we are Dec. 2022 and the repeal of the WEP/GPO were not included in the 1.7 Trillion dollar Omnibus Bill recently passed by the Senate. In over 4,000 + pages, not one mention. I have watched the efforts of CalRTA members over 20 + years to no avail. To say I am disappointed is a far cry from what I am truly feeling. Our tax dollars go to give free health care to illegal immigrants and full Social Security benefits for those who paid $0 into the system. I have lost faith in politicians who always come up with the sorry excuse they will continue to support the efforts of the most dedicated retirees, yet do absolutely nothing to further this cause. Subcommittee Chair Rosa DeLauro, is quoted as saying, "this bill is crucial to our country's economic success and Americans' quality of life." Oops she failed to say the exception being the millions of retired teachers! Very angry that the repeal of the WEP/GPO does not stand on its' own merit but we have to beg to make it part of an outrageous spending bill called the Omnibus Bill or should it be called the Ominous Bill.
This is a very bitter pill to swallow, especially after obtaining 305 cosponsors for HR 82! Reportedly, House members balked because WEP/GPO repeal was not paid for, in this bill. Repeal is about Fairness. It would have a long term impact on future Social Security finances, (Trust Funds), but not on the Federal budget. (per CBO) HR 82 was a clean bill, no earmarks, new taxes etc. Adding/increasing Social Security funding (to "pay" for this) will only ever happen if Congress gets off it's rear end by passing comprehensive S.S. reform, & increasing revenue (FICA Tax). In the meantime: we should receive the S.S. Benefit that we have earned & helped pay for. The House had enough support to pass this and it would not even have become law until the Senate acts!?! A Bitter Pill, indeed. We must now push the Senate for WEP/GPO Repeal and major Social Security Reform, such as S.3071. Grassroots efforts by a majority of Americans, are desperately needed.
One of my main issues with the unfairness of the WEP /GPO is this: When I was going thru my (wicked) divorce - after being married for 25 years - the court takes into account my CALSTRS contributions but SS is not included in the formula at all! So I ended up having to give my husband half of my CALSTRS and I get none of his SS, (nor none of mine which I paid into for 10 years before I began teaching). So he gets to collect my CALSTRS and his SS. It is not fair!
I did not go into teaching until I was in my 40's, I don't get all the credit for the years I worked as an RN and a lab technician, and I don't get all that I would be due for spousal divorce credits. Unfortunately, I was ignorant of this when I retired, ( social security projected income updates that are mailed out didn't have this info on them when I was at pre-retirement age). I was truly blind-sided. this law is irrational and a form of theft. I deserve to get all the credits I worked for. My ex gets his pension and social security because he has a private pension plan. What's the difference?
Agree, our Social Security projected income statements never accounted for these deductions. The statements we received show the amount we should be earning if our true benefits were paid to us. So how where we supposed to plan for our retirement? A gut wrenching surprise after 45 years of work. 20 years Private Sector 25 years Education.
My husband served in the military and other jobs for 20 plus years (including being a private and public teacher for many years). He now has worked another 20 years as a police officer (pension). A total of 40 years worked. We are struggling with how to make ends meet in retirement.
I am ready to retire from the private sector and would love to be a substitute public school teacher. Jumped through all the hoops for some "certification", but i stopped at signing up for the mandatory pension program at risk of social security. I am sure i am not the only one.
I retired from my local school system as a custodian, at the age of 69, in November of 2015 after 9 years of service. My school pension was $561.83 resulting in a WEP of $285.80. The WEP penalty was deducted in 2008, 7 years before I retired and received my pension, when I reached my early retirement age of 62. Deducting the WEP in 2008 also. resulted in a $42.90 reduction of my earned SS COLA and a $86.30 reduction of my earned credit for working 39 months after my retirement age of 66. This resulted in a $415.00 monthly reduction of my earned SS benefits. When I complained to SS they saw no problems.
I began my teaching career at age 40, in a district that offered California Public Employees Retirement System known as CalPERS. If I was informed, I would have STAYED with this district until I was vested. I needed only eight more weeks. Remaining with CalPERS I would have avoided the economical/penalties and cost. I transferred to a district that only offered California State Teachers Retirement System known as CalSTRS. In doing so I forfeited 40% my previously earned social security benefits and my survivor benefits.
Here is the impact. If I receive my spouse’s benefits, my Social Security payment would be $1,570 a month. I am entitled to receive my own earned benefits of $1,264 a month minus the Windfall Elimination Provision (GPO/WEP) I now receive $762.00 a month. A loss of $9,969 a year. If my spouse predeceases me, I am not able to collect his survivor’s benefits. $30,000 a year. A destressing surprise after a long career. We currently purchased a life insurance policy for my spouse to add to my income upon his passing. This policy will only cover lost income for two years. Cost of this insurance is $4,800 a year.
Why Do I Have to BEG For the Benefits That I Have Earned?
I served as a bank manager for two decades before transitioning into teaching. Throughout my career, I diligently contributed to and am now fully vested in social security. As I plan for retirement in the state of California, it becomes evident that my reliance on the entirety of my social security benefits is crucial for financial sustainability.
Complicating matters, my husband, who is significantly older than me, holds social security benefits vital to our joint financial stability. In the unfortunate event of his passing, the absence of his social security, coupled with my reduced benefits, poses a substantial threat to my ability to continue residing in California. This prospect forces me to contemplate the distressing possibility of leaving my family and grappling with financial hardships in another state.
I find the existing law unjust, as it places an undue burden on individuals who have diligently contributed to the social security system. I am not seeking entitlements beyond what I have earnestly invested in throughout my professional life. Moreover, the unfairness of this law is exacerbated by its selective impact, affecting only a handful of states. It is my hope that a reevaluation of these regulations will promote greater equity and ensure a more just outcome for individuals facing similar circumstances.
The House Ways and Means committee is “playing” us. We need to call every day. Simply expressing our situations does not impact their behavior in relation to their constituents’ struggles. I worked 15 years before teaching and was a reservist with 2 presidential recalls during my teaching career. My spouse passed and I factored her Social Security benefits into our household budget - I was aware of WEP but not GPO. We have to call and do more than blog. The direct phone number to the house ways and means committee is: (202) 225-3625. We can’t let them Continue to “punk” us.
My husband was 58 when he died. His required quarters were covered by his service in the Navy and years of working for the Telephone Co. I am unable to collect social security as his spouse because I chose to teach in California. I worked in a small rural school district that did not pay very well and had no medical insurance from the district when I retired. I would not trade my years of helping children learn to read for anything. But I could surely use the social security that was paid for by my husband to offset the continually raising cost of medical care and insurance.
ReplyDeleteFrom Karon W. ... I was a single mother raising two sons and a teacher. However, I worked every summer outside my teaching job, held second and third jobs sometimes to provide for my family. I paid into Social Security and worked my rear off. Why shouldn't I collect my share.
ReplyDeleteFrom Fay S. ... I worked 15 years as a teacher in California. Then I worked an additional 14 year for a California County. Since then I have worked 10 years in private industry and plan to work for another 5 years. When I retire (at age 85) I feel I should receive Social Security for the 15 years I worked for and paid into the Social Security System. However, they tell me I will receive nothing - because I get about $2000 per month in my two retirement accounts - that is a combined total not each. This is so unfair. I am a widow but I get nothing from my husband's Social Security - which I don't mind as I didn't earn it. But I do feel I am entitled to receive benefits that I earned and paid into on my own.
ReplyDeleteFrom Mike ... My starting salary in 1974 was so low as a teacher I couldn't live anywhere around where I taught… I needed more income to survive.
ReplyDeleteSo I took on 2 and even 3 more jobs, because I loved teaching and was good at it… but certainly not paid adequately for it.
I spent at least 20% of what I got from teaching on supplies that were not provided… including buckets that blanketed my classroom in the winter from roofs water leaks in Fremont, CA.
I bought my own computers and materials as there was no money for that. Paper too… no pencils… we bought our own.
And every year I was on the chopping block too get laid off: insult to injury
I contributed to both my retirement fund and paid my SS taxes like everyone else…. which I counted on.
Now even though I worked many jobs, many hours away and after my teaching job…
I am penalized by getting ½ of what others get from SS for the same time ala Ronald Regan?
I think there should be a federal lawsuit filed under the equal protection clause of the constitution: this IS discrimination
Yes, this is (and has been) discrimination.
DeleteFrom Judi L. ... As a divorced (after 20 years), single woman who should be receiving approximately $1,000 a month from a spousal entitlement, the GPO prevents me from receiving any of it. The formula would have me paying Social Security.
ReplyDeleteAs a person who has worked at other jobs and in other states and so have my own Social Security credits, I should be receiving approximately $700 a month, but because of the WEP, I receive $234 from which my Medicare is withheld which means I get $142.00 a month.
It is necessary for me to work part time to supplement my retirement income; I truly need the additional funds repeal would give me.
This is completely unfair!
From Ruth R. ... I retired from STRS and after a short while, I found I needed the extra money and then had the opportunity to work for a private University. Naturally, they take social security out of my check each month, but that is money I can never claim. Why? because of the WEP/GPO. Is that not grand theft from me by way of the U.S. Government? They take it and they keep it!
ReplyDeleteFrom Bob ... As a new teacher in 1972, our pay days came once a month on the last day for 10 months every year. July and August were not pay months due top Summer vacation. At a salary of about $8,000. / month, it was impossible to go income free from June 30th to Sept 30th without finding additional employment. I worked Summers for 32 years and paid into the SS Railroad Tax (SS) account. I also contributed through pre-teaching years through the US Peace Corps and part time employment in High School and through college years.
ReplyDeleteNow my benefit is compromised by several hundred dollars per month. This doesn't seem fair as so many other professions such as Police and Fire are exempt from this rule. So many in those professions work 2-3 jobs at the same time without penalty.
From Dave D. ... I'm a retired teacher having taught for 35 years....and I've also worked a 2nd job the entire duration of my teaching career....11 years at Artesa winery...8 years at Silverado Country Club...3 years at Piccolinos restaurant etc. By age 66 I should be able to draw about $850 a month from social security but instead this will receive about half that thanks to the WEP/GPO!
ReplyDeleteFrom Sharon B. ...I am 68 years old, a retired school teacher. When I started teaching (1969) we weren't able to get credits for social security, so I held second jobs until I reached my 40 quarters. It was not easy going from teaching all day to another job, but I was concerned even then about my pension and medicare.
ReplyDeleteWhen I found out I couldn't draw my social security, or that it would be subtracted from my STRS, I was stunned. I think this is extremely unfair. I worked for it. I deserve it, regardless of my pension. I've been retired 7 years, and I'm beginning to feel the financial crunch, yet I can't draw what is owed to me, that I worked hard for. What is fair about this?
I agree 100 percent it is theft government theft
DeleteFrom Gene S. ... My father was a poor strawberry farmer, yet he paid into Social Security for his sons as they worked on the farm. He trusted Social Security would provide for his three sons as they reach retirement. For two sons, they will qualify for Social Security, however I will not qualify because I choose a career in education, even though I continued paying into Social Security via my employer after I retired and continued working as a consultant. It doesn't seem fair.
ReplyDeleteThe three sons put themselves though college, since our father could not help us. Upon my step-mother's death while I was in college, my father instructed us to apply for Social Security benefits to help with college expenses. My younger brother received benefits, but I did not. I was told by Social Security, that my step-mother, who raised me from the age of 3, did not legally adopted me, so I did not qualify. It didn't seem fair.
Despite being a poor farmer, my father instilled in us, the value of a good education, hard work and respecting all. He never asked for a hand out, despite losing the farm due to property taxes, declining prices of the market, and struggling to make payments. We never asked for welfare, never broke the law, put ourselves though college, paid our share of taxes, performed our fair share plus more to community service. Pop died believing that we were privileged to live in the United States, even after being interned during World War II in the Relocation Camps along with thousands of other Japanese-AMERICANS. He never lost his faith and never complained. He just kept working harder. It didn't seem fair.
Pop had faith in Social Security to help and it did. But he also deposited money into Social Security for his sons, despite that money could have been used for food, medical needs and even college. Don't let his faith in Social Security be incomplete. I have it good because my father taught us to save for the future. But what about the teachers who worked in another field for years paying into Social Security, then switched to a teaching career later in life. With their abbreviated teaching career and most of their working years putting money into Social Security, will their retirement pension be able to sustain their "golden years?" It doesn't seem fair.
Please make it fair for those teachers and fathers who paid into Social Security.
From Charles A. ... I worked as a reporter on the Oxnard Press-Courier before going back to school to get my Master's degree in education and my teaching certificate. Knowing that I needed more quarters to be covered by Social Security, I worked at the newspaper all summer for the next 14 years to become completely covered.
ReplyDeleteWhen I retired, 13 years ago, I was crushed and aghast to learn that, because of the WEP/GPO, I would receive only one third of what any other person would. The word "Security" did not apply to me after all my hard work and sacrifice of my time. I still feel betrayed and used by the utter inequality of the WEP/GPO and the way I have been denied what I was due. I have been deprived of thousands of dollars that would have helped me in retirement and stand to lose even more until the WEP/GPO is repealed. I hope the repeal happens soon so I can get at least a small part of what is due me while I am still healthy enough to benefit from Social Security.
From Steve C. ... I retired from teaching in California after 27 years in the classroom. We had to move to Utah because the cost of living in the San Francisco Bay area was way too high too high to retire there. During other times in my life, I worked at other professions and qualified for Social Security with my 45 or so quarters. If I were receiving my full Social Security benefit, I would get about $950 per month which, along with my CALSTRS pension of about $3,500 per month, would make a nice living. As it is, I only receive $290 per month because of the Windfall Elimination business. Of this amount, $99 or so goes to my Medicare part A hospital monthly cost, and $132 goes to pay my supplemental part F Medicare to cover all the gaps in coverage. I have no drug benefit except through the VA which I must drive 50 miles to visit in order to get regular cholesterol medicine, Simvastatin.
ReplyDeleteIt would REALLY help my wife and me if we received the full Social Security benefit. She is on Medicare disability and receives about $2000 per month toward our household costs.
From Robin F. ... Thank you Cal Retired Teachers Association for fighting to change this unfair law. Here is my story and I hope you hear from a lot of other retired teachers on this as well. I worked my way through college and into a master’s degree which ultimately led me to teaching and I also worked many summers trying to make ends meet. Throughout all these non-teaching jobs I paid in to social security, or, should I say, had social security withheld from each and every paycheck. Now that I am retired from teaching and drawing on STRS (which I also obviously paid in to), until the law changes I cannot receive the social security money I am owed. This makes absolutely no sense to me. Why should I be penalized as a teacher for the money I made from other jobs which withheld social security? I always tell young students that if they take up teaching as a profession in California, they will not get access to any of the social security money that was taken from them until the law changes and no doubt some will choose to belong to a profession that does not punish you by arbitrarily keeping your hard earned withholdings.
ReplyDeleteFrom Betty G. ... When I accepted a job with the Santa Maria-Bonita Elementary School District, I was unaware that I was going to lose most of my social security retirement amount. Had I known, I doubt I would have taken the job. It was going to impoverish me in retirement. But I didn't know.
ReplyDeleteLike many teachers in our district, I entered this district in my late-40's which means I would never accumulate a high retirement simply because I could not put in as many years as those who enter teaching in California right out of college. I was planning on getting my total social security amount which would shore up the small STRS retirement income. What a shock when I found out what California has done to those of us who are worked - outside the public schools - in regards to our social security.
I receive $309.00 a month in social security. The other amount that should have come to me does not. It does make a difference! Once you retire, your income remains basically the same; however, gasoline prices, food prices, taxes do not!
I never expected to get rich choosing teaching as my profession, but I did not expect to be penalized for it either. We much change this and give the full amount of earned social security to those of us who have earned it. Had I chosen any other profession than teaching, I would be receiving it.
From Martha B. ...I am a retired teacher who is affected by both the GPO and WEP depending on which complicated formula the Social Security uses to determine my benefit. Either way, my SS benefit is decimated.
ReplyDeleteHaving become a teacher in mid-life, my California Teacher's pension is insufficient to live on. Therefore, at age 84 and single, due to these unfair penalties, what I earned before entering the teaching field as well as the benefit I am entitled to as a spouse is drastically reduced.
The GPO and WEP defeat the purpose of Social Security, which was to be a safety net. Because I became a teacher, I have been denied that safety net. To restore fairness, these penalties must be repealed.
Unfortunately, the individuals who will make decisions on the GPO and WEP do not need Social Security for an adequate retirement. I do.
From Jancey N. ... My husband and I have been limited in what we can do in retirement because, as a teacher, he was unable to collect the full social security pension he is due. We feel that this is unfair discrimination since he put in many more than the required quarters and is still working, which might not be necessary if we had the total social security.
ReplyDeleteFrom Linda L. ... I am a recently retired teacher of 14 years with 17 years of social security in the private sector. When I went to SS ( several times last year ) to get the amount I'd be receiving, they told me in writing I'd be receiving $1243. O.K. I could plan my retirement budget around that. That was last October. December I received a letter from SS stating they had overpaid me 2,754 and that I had to refund it or my SS would be garnished. I had become eligible for the STRS pension in June, so they reduced the SS payment by 60%.They reduced my monthly SS to $759. Mind you, I started collecting the full amount back in 2011 when I turned 66 and still working, and was paid the full amount until I retired 6-2012.
ReplyDeleteI hope you can make sense of this. It seems so unfair to lose those years before teaching. When I was earning my credential, no one explained that this Windfall Elimination Tax would be applied. If I had changed jobs in the private sector and entered a new retirement plan, I wouldn't have lost the previous one or had it reduced. Why doesn't that apply to public servants?
From Gene & Andrea S. ... My husband and I are affected by WEP/GPO. He is a veteran and worked for the Federal Government as a GS 13 and I as a public school teacher. We also managed a landscaping business for 22 years and paid into Social Security. However we are affected by WEP/GPO. It is very unfair and our pensions do not keep up with the cost of living.
ReplyDeleteFrom Barbara F. ... When I retired in California in 1999, I had worked 32 years for Alhambra City Schools and 4 years in NY State where I did pay into Social Security. I had over 40 quarters in SS from part time jobs and teaching at the college level part time while teaching elementary school in California. I am a widow, my husband having passed away in 1992 with many, many years paid into the Social Security System. Because of the WEP and GPO provision in this state, I only get a very, very small amount from SS and that and more money from me has to pay for my Medicare coverage. I do not understand how Social Security being a federal program is not treating everyone under the system the same. It is NOT fair- especially when widows who never worked are allowed to draw against their husbands benefits. I am not looking for a free handout- only what I deserve from my husband and I both having been part of the SS system.
ReplyDeleteFrom Sharon ... my husband died at the age of 53 and was never old enough to collect any of his Social Security. He and I have both paid substantial amounts of money into the fund. Thus, I believe it is patently discriminatory to deny me my rightful benefits. If the government continues to deny me the appropriate benefits, I feel that all the monies we have contributed be refunded!
ReplyDeleteFrom Linda M. ... I worked my way through college and paid into Social Security. Although I do not have the quarters necessary to receive a pension, I will be receiving SS through my husband. Oh wait a minute, I receive my pension through STRS. That means any SS from my husband, should he predecease me, will be deducted from my pension. And the quarters I paid into when I was working my way through college? GONE!!! This for those of us who taught the children of California.
ReplyDeleteFrom Carole ... I’m sure we can all remember our first “real” job (not babysitting or lawn mowing). How excited we were to get out first pay check, and how shocked we were to see the amount we actually received after taxes and social security was deducted. But, we were assured that it was important and necessary so that when we were old and gray, we would receive “security” payments. Through the years I continued to pay into Social Security which was required (not optional), with the exception of the 24 years I was a teacher. I did not have the luxury of attending college right out of high school. My parents simply couldn’t afford it. So I worked, married, had children, and then went to college and got my degree and teaching credential, all the time paying into Social Security. It was difficult making ends meet and we could have really used the money that was being taken out of our paychecks, but after all we were going to receive the benefits when we retired. Well, I am now retired as is my husband of 50 years. I not only do not receive the Social Security that I paid into, but if my husband dies, I will receive no death benefits either. All this is because I chose to become a teacher. I thought I was contributing my special gift to society, never imagining the price it was going to cost me down the line. How unfair! I read that the famous movie star and millionaire Doris Day receives Social Security. My friends who receive pensions from other professions receive Social Security. Even Bill O’Reilly says he can get Social Security. They make a lot more money than I do from STRS. UNFAIR! UNFAIR! UNFAIR!!!! I might just as well have given my money to Bernie Madoff. At least I might have gotten some return. Bottom line is if you don’t pay into it, you shouldn’t get it; and if you do pay in to it, you should get it. That was the government’s promise to me years and years ago. What happened?!?
ReplyDeleteFrom a CalRTA member ... I worked from age 16 to age 27 paying into Social Security. I was married for 17 years and my husband worked for 50 years paying into Social Security. I went back to school and obtained my teaching credentials after I divorced. I worked as a teacher for 15 years and am now collecting my teaching retirement amount of $1400 per month. When I retired I was denied both my social security payments and those I could received from my ex-husband’s account, except for having my full credit for Medicare plus $226 per month.
ReplyDeleteHad I not put as much as possible into savings and IRA’s I would be living a very stringent financial life. As it is, I am constantly concerned that I not spend money in order to not become a burden on my one child in my older age. To top it off, I have just received a notice from my CalPERS Longterm Care policy (which I selected in order to not be a burden on my child who lives on the opposite side of the United States) that they will be increasing my monthly policy payments by 85% over the two years from 2014 through 2015!
Therefore, I have been penalized by both the WEP as well as the GPO.
I was a teacher in California for over 20 years. I was hit in the head by a student practicing his pitch with a hardball and over time caused a brain tumor to grow. Long story short - I was forced to retire early due to the brain surgery to remove the tumor. NO medical insurance, NO disability Social Security, No help from the DO.
ReplyDeleteI am a military wife, husband is retired AF, my Social Security is reduced dramatically because I taught in California, I do not qualify for Social Security Disability (?), I fully paid into Social Security, teaching was my third and final career. I fully paid for all College loans, defaulted on NONE.
Amazing. Tried to do it right, Mom & Dad would be proud, but I seem to be hanging in the wind at the mercy of the politicians and WEP/GPO
I am a retired teacher who worked both before teaching and during school Summers off without a paycheck, till all year scedules curtailed that. I tutored to earn the last of my 40 units, equal to 10 years work. Before I retired, I requested information about my Social Security benefits. I included this amount in my decision of when it would be feasible to retire.
ReplyDeleteWhen I retired, I took the pension option which gives my husband and me a lower monthly income, but will continue to be there for my husband after my death. When offered PERS Longterm insurance, we optioned to take this out of my pension for both of us, further cutting our monthly income, and also took my pension to include my husband to receive it if I die first. Then, when applying for my earned Social Security benefit, I found out that my benefit would be subject to the “ Windfall Elimination Penalty”, and the "Government Pension Offset"!
The consequence of these provisions is that I receive only $54 a month in Social Security. I also receive less than the full amount that my pension would have been if not including my husband,, but at least if I die first, my husband will continue to receive both his Social Security and my pension. However,if he dies first, I will not receive any of his Social Security, thus cutting my monthly income into less than half, with most of the same expenses continuing. This will not leave me socially secure!
I am a strong advocate for repeal of the WEP and GPO provisions.
The Bulk of Our Politicians Do Nothing While America’s Seniors are Being Cheated Out of Their Earned Social Security benefits.
ReplyDeleteEnough is enough. It is time for our congress and some members of the House Ways and Means Committee to get off their do-nothing rear-ends and work to pass H.R. 1795: the Social Security Fairness Act of 2013. Passage of this bill that would allow America’s seniors to receive Social Security benefits they had actually Earned, benefits they were promised when they began paying into the system before the enactment of unfair laws that reduced many seniors’ benefits by up to 66%.
Some politicians have been telling us that we don’t have the money to pay America's impoverished seniors their Earned Social Security
benefits. But whom are they trying to kid? It would cost some $62 billion over a 10-year period if this bill were enacted, far less than the $85 billion PER MONTH our government is now spending buying our own bonds to falsely prop up the stock market. Meanwhile, the squandering of more than $1 TRILLION dollars annually has not moved our economy forward one inch, and any so-called gains the government tries to sell us will quickly dissolve once the profligate spending has ceased.
On the other hand, if we were to pass H.R. 1795: the Social Security Fairness Act of 2013 and give seniors the Social Security benefits
they Earned and actually Deserve, that money would be filtered back into the national economy and we would see a permanent, significant improvements in our economy.
Any politician who tells you we can't afford to pass H.R. 1795: the Social Security Fairness Act of 2013 is either ignorant or duplicitous or likely both.
In my case, I paid into Social Security for 29 years, then retired from the US military and became a California teacher. After hearing about GPO I calculated my SS and CA Teacher retirement benefits, and discovered that my SS reduction will be greater than my CA retirement benefit! So I have two choices: turn down the CA retirement (but still keeping paying for a retirement plan that I won't be able to use), or quit my teaching job and find a "substantial" SS-paying job for 5 more years. Neither of those is a pleasant (or fair) option. I served my country for a long time in the military; now I'm being financially highly-discouraged from continuing to serve at the state level.
ReplyDeleteBefore I entered public education as a teacher, I worked and paid into Social Security 32 separate years. Some of these years were as a student, others were as I worked part-time while I raised my daughter. Only 16 of these were years where I was considered to have "substantial earnings."
ReplyDeleteAfter my daughter left home and went to college, I began working full-time once again as a teacher in the California Public School system. Because I entered later in life, I will not put in many years before retirement. I am currently 62 and this is my 10th year of working as a teacher. I now find out that because I am eligible to collect a state teacher pension, that I will only be eligible to collect 40% of the Social Security benefit I would have been entitled to.
This is an unfair penalty for having chosen to move from private employment to public employment to serve my community. I am, therefore, asking for repeal these unfair laws, the WEP and GPO.
I have worked for many years toward a healthy CALSTRS pension coming in the near future. The payout to educators within school systems is tremendous compared to how much individuals receive from social security. WEP and GPO were created to instill some fairness into the playing field since it was possible for individuals to "game the system" if they contributed to pensions like STRS but also held "side jobs" that could qualify for social security (since SS retirement benefits pays out a good deal for low income earners not proportional to how much they actually earned). Still, as the stories here suggest, WEP and GPO could probably be fine tuned to better serve some folks who fall in the cracks re. coverage.
ReplyDeleteI entered public school teaching in 1993, although I had been working in private schools full time for 8 years, and public retail since 1970. I have earned tons of social security credits, mostly in OHIO, but some retail in CA. My husband has been in full time public sector work since 1974. Not only am I not going to get most of my entitled social security, I will also NOT receive my spousal benefits. Why? because I spent 20 years of my 45 earning years as a math teacher. I am certainly NOT double-dipping, because only half of my productive years will have been teaching. Also, if teachers have to take a second job to make ends meet, why does their social security count against their pension? They have earned it. Really unfair. It's a good thing I never expected to make much, and that my husband has better benefits and has been able to invest money so we can retire...
ReplyDeleteRepeal WEP & GOP
ReplyDeleteBeginning at the age of 15, I worked very hard to earn FULL social security benefits upon my retirement. However, my benefits have been taken away because at age 51, I answered the call to serve my community and became a public school teacher. I am being unfairly punished simply because I changed from private sector employment into the teaching profession.
I hope to retire at age 64. But with only 13 years of service, my school pension will only be about half of what my SS benefit would have been. I’m not asking for a handout. Just give me back my ability to retire with dignity.
Give me back what I rightfully earned after paying into the system.
Retiree teachers should push to enact a legal requirement that all new teachers be informed of this unfair withholding, etc . Had I known I probably would not have become a teacher. Sad and unfair.
ReplyDeleteI am a highly skilled professional software engineer. I have paid into social security for many years, but was interested in a job in state service for the State of Nevada. The work looked interesting but I am afraid to take it due to the effect the WEP will have on my social security.
ReplyDeleteI asked if I could refuse the pension plan (which is actually just a 401k type thing - not even a defined benefit plan) but they said that is not an option.
So I can't work for the State. They need people with my level of experience, but have trouble getting them due to lower salaries and the WEP.
From Santa Rosa High School teacher and Adjunct SRJC teacher. I will be 71 in January. I love my job but wouldn't mind retiring. I can't afford to lose the small Social Security check I now get while I work. As soon as I retire, that will go away. I feel that I will have to work until I die!
ReplyDeleter.k. I worked in a factory and joined the U.S. Air Force before becoming a teacher. It was very helpful to begin receiving Social Security Benefits which were aptly earned. After retirement, the social security people said I will have a reduced amount of income since I have a teacher retirement income. Now I have to make budget adjustments to buy every day needed items from a reduced resource that I earned. When does it stop? We are just asking for what is already ours.
ReplyDeleteI retired from Pacific Bell, now AT&T in 1987, with 22 years of service. I started working when I was 15 1/2 years old and worked various jobs until hired by Pacific Bell in 1987. After retiring from Pacific Bell I worked other jobs, paying into Social Security. I had met all requirements to receine Social Security -- I had 26 years of substantial contributions.
ReplyDeleteIn 1997 I began working in the Compton Unified District and worked there for 13 years. Upon retiring from Compton Unified I discovered I fell under the WFA, and my Social Security would be decreased.
I feel the decrease was and is totally unfair. I earned my Social Security money -- my employer and I both made contributions. Had I known this was going to happen, I would have NEVER did what was required to teach. It took me 4 years of classes, tests, money and time away from my family before earning my teaching credential. After retiring, I felt my time was punishment.
I worked as a graphic designer in NYC, paid into Social Security and paid all of my taxes on time. Moved to California, went back to school, and became a certificated teacher. Now in my 19th year of teaching first grade, I realize I will never be able to retire EVER. The STRS won't pay me enough to live on and I am told I will probably receive very little Social Security. I am single and have always taken good care of myself, and have devoted myself to service.
ReplyDeleteI also want what I rightfully earned after paying into the system.
My story is similar to those that precede mine. I worked and contributed into Social Security until I reached my mid thirties. I then returned to school to get my teaching credential in CA. I had expected to receive full Social Security benefits in addition to a pension from the STRS until I attended a retirement seminar. I was shocked to learn about the WEP and even more shocked after retiring to see how much they will actually take - almost half! I'm delaying Social Security and hoping an acceptable solution will be reached before I reach my full SS retirement Now I wish I had continued working and not taken the early retirement my district offered. This reduction in SS benefits is also a deterrent to people who want to make mid-life career changes and go into the teaching profession - something that would help the teacher shortage. Please help!
ReplyDeleteFor 20 plus years, I worked two jobs as a teacher and as a customer service agent. I had no social life working to ensure my retirement as a single person with no family to help out in my later years.
ReplyDeleteI was aware of the Windfall Provisions Act and the exception that if one worked consistently for 20 years, the deduction under the Act would no longer apply. Just as I was reaching my 20th year, the bill was changed to 30 years.
I paid into two pensions (teaching and Social Security) for many years with the objective of having a decent retirement. That is MY money, and the government says that I am not entitled to it- the government gets to keep a portion of it.
I now see my future as having to work although disabled and elderly just to make ends meet after giving up life when younger to prevent this possibility.
It is not right that I will be receiving less than a person who worked one job when I paid into the same system at more cost to myself. Especially in today's economy, every earned penny counts!
One of the ultimate results of not repealing the Windfall Provisions Act is that, in my retirement, I will need to rely more on government systems than my own resources (costly for the government).
PLEASE REPEL THE WINDFALL PROVISIONS ACT!
I began working and paying into social security at the age of 15. When I was 42, I earned a BA and teaching credential. When I was 47, I took a classified position at a school district. I was placed into STRS instead of PERS because I had one paid day as a substitute teacher prior to taking the classified position. I was not told by my employer that since I was in the STRS retirement plan, I would not continue to pay into Social Security nor would I be able to receive the SS benefits I paid into for over 30 years. When I discovered this just a few weeks after my employment began, I tried to get out of STRS but was not allowed to. Another shocker was when I learned recently that when I retire, I can not take on a classified position, even though my career with a school district was only as a classified employee and never a credentialed employee. Classified salaries are a fraction of what teacher salaries are which means that retirement amounts are much lower as well. As a single person living on one income, thanks to not being able to collect my full social security benefit or my spouses benefit, I will retire and continue working a part time position until I die. Not what I thought would happen but my reality. Had I known then, what I know now, I sure would have done things differently! Full SS benefits earned need to be paid.
ReplyDeleteDam right i agree with you 100 percent i also paid into ss 22 years and took a job in government 15 years became disabled now forced to live on 1300 a month denied social security had i known this i would have never never took a gov job now forced to live like a bum
DeleteI turned 65 October of 2017 so I filed for my Social Security the first of October thinking I was going to receive around $1085.00 a month (this is what my account said on the SSI site) well to my great surprise I was only going to receive $468.00 a month because of my teachers pension which is $998.43 a month. I waited to 65 to file for SS because I was under the impression that any money's made under $14,000.00 a year would not affect my SS. The SS representative said that they consider it double dipping to have a pension and collecting SS. I had to drop my Medical part "B" to get $138.00 more a month so I am now getting $626.00 (these figures could be a little off) I think this is a crock since I've earned both my pension and my SS.
ReplyDeleteOne is State and the other Federal and should not affect each other since my Pension is under the $14,000.00 limit the Government set for earnings. It should not make a different where the money comes from.
I paid into SSI for over 35 years
Due to budget cuts to the state school system 8 years ago they had to let me go which for that reason I lost my house that I was in for over 30 years had two vehicles' repo'ed I had to declare bankruptcy and had to start over.
I have a government that I served during the Viet Nam era three different tours that wants to penalize me for a pension that I earned.
You can only imagine how unfair I think this is.
Ira Rosenberg
I paid into social security before being hired by Los Angeles County, and during the first several years of employment. I attended law school while working for the county, and then hired on with the county Dirstrict Attorney, and then Public Defender thereafter. I met my wife, Patricia Vallen, who worked for Los Angeles County law enforcement, while we both worked in the same courthouse. We have a combined 48 years with LA County. I worked for LA County for 9 additional years, in an important project to create a second public defender's office, and 17 months part-time, before retiring. All tolled, we worked for LA County for nearly 60 YEARS. When we finally retired, we found out we would be punished by the federal government because of our dedication to local public service. Had my wife chosen to work in private law enforcement, for more money, we would be receiving all those benefits. That is simply unfair.
ReplyDeleteTeaching was a second career for me. I was a homemaker, wife, and mother of three, returning to work at 32. worked 10 years in the canneries while getting my degree. I received my degree in business with an accounting major, worked 5 years as an accountant, and then decided to become a teacher. By the time I had completed my credential program, and was hired as a high school business teacher, I was turning 49 years old. I taught 16 years, until I turned 65, retiring in 2015. I basically lost my social security which I had earned, due to my teaching career, receiving only $205 net per month (minus my medicare health and prescription drug plans and federal taxes) This is outrageous, I paid into social security from 17-49 years of age. Private pensions do not affect their members' social security payouts, why does a teaching pension wipe ours out?? I feel this is VERY UNFAIR. I am turning 70 this year, but, I continue to work as a substitute teacher just to make ends meet. I had hoped to relax in my golden years. Sadly, not so..... Please change this WEP/GPO law for the sake of fairness, especially, to those of us whom have work so hard to help ourselves, others and improve our local communities.
ReplyDeleteI worked in 3 different states. One state has its own system, but I was not allowed to pay into for 16 years that I worked there. I was also denied paying into social security at the same time, so I paid into no system. Because the rules for the system are so screwed up, I am allowed to buy back a limited number of years at an astronomical price (basically half all the income I earned while working there to buy into the system after the fact). I still need 4 more months of work in that system to qualify but of course can't get hired to save my life. Then I worked 10 years in another state that allows payment into social security. In the interim I worked in yet a third state that didn't allow payment into their system so they threw a bit of my income into the stock market instead. None of these systems on their own allow for retirement and they can't be combined. So I have 27 years of work that do not count/do not allow me to retire. My only choice was to go for disability because you need fewer years. As my health got worse as I got older I waited 6 years for disability approval and finally got it. Now I have a tiny check. I'm still trying to get 4 months of work in the first system to qualify for their retirement, but if I do, I will lose about 90% of the check from the first system from my total earnings as windfall. (they will come out of social security, but the point is, all that money spent to buy the retirement and my total retirement pension will be about 100 bucks greater per month than if I hadn't worked in the first state at all. probably not even worth it, but I've already paid all the money to buy the work credit in first state. All because of windfall. meanwhile, other people that work in the same state their whole lives get all their years of work to count. It makes no sense
ReplyDeleteWhen I entered teaching back in the 70's I was so excited to earn $17,000 a year to do what I loved. I could pay off my student debt and have a decent lifestyle. I was fortunate to get pregnant with twins at 38 and stayed home for two years and then decided that teaching won't help pay for our kids college education. As much as I was sorry to give up my tenure and being Dept. chair at a high school,I decided to stay home for the early years of our children's development. My salary would just be paying for day care and more taxes. So, I quit teaching and launched a 2nd career. This year marks my 20th year in the private sector. My teacher's pension is $671.40 a month. I am full retirement age and can take social security but because I don't have enough bend points my social security is reduced and if my husband passes before me I only get a fraction of his social security even though he worked until 70. If I never worked I would be better off, because I would receive his full SS amount. Something is seriously wrong with the system and our congress
ReplyDeletemen and women do not get this.THIS IS SO WRONG!!! Our government is stealing from social security and the system is in trouble. PLEASE VOTE and voice your opinions!
I agree it is theft class action suite needs to happen if you paid 40 quarters you should not be penalized total ripoff had you never worked you would have been better off sad sad sad
DeleteI agree 1oo. Percent class action suite
DeleteHi Jane,
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy to think that wanting to do good in the world and contribute your knowledge and help young people would damage your personal finances in such a negative way. I'm sorry!!! We need to wake up these legislators who all get nice fat pensions.
I taught 20 years in a CA valley school. My husband died and I now receive
ReplyDelete$100 a month of his $1400 a month soc. sec. If I just earned my soc. sec.
earnings I would be better off. I can eek it out on my $2200 a month retire
meant but can't travel or do anything extra. The janitor makes more with his
retirement and soc. sec.
Why wasn't this a part of the latest passed Bill?
DeleteHello !
ReplyDeletePlease note this issue with Social Security. Please pass this email to decision makers. I appreciate the opportunity to share this information about Social Security unfairness with you. These websites clearly explain the horrible implementation of Social Security for many public employees in many states. Possibly, you are already aware of these laws
Unfortunately, I was one of the millions of people penalized by the nonalignment of mandatory State of California State Teacher’s retirement and mandatory Social Security. After 21 years of marriage, my husband, a decorated Vietnam Veteran Army officer, was diagnosed with 100% PTSD after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake. He had been a fantastic father and great husband working as a trust officer for a bank. The earthquake brought back buried memories from his two tours of Viet Nam duty. He became suicidal and unable to function as an employee, husband, and father.
I was shocked when he sued and won half of all of our assets, with no child support for our nine year old son, in divorce proceedings. On top of that, I had to give him years of my California State Teachers Retirement, because it was community property. I was further penalized by not being able to access spousal rights to Social Security … due to these horrible WEP/GPO laws. I taught elementary school for over 40 years. I enjoyed teaching, however, the Federal Government should not penalize public employees.
On a positive note, changing these laws has been proposed every year, however, the bills never seem to get out of committee… no matter which political party is in power.
Thank you for reading this.
All candidates should be fighting to change these laws!
Mary
Subject: RE: Responding to your message
ReplyDeleteYou did not answer my question “Why was this repeal not included in the Current legislation?”
From: Congressman Jared Huffman
Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2021 12:00
Subject: Responding to your message
Dear Mary,
Thank you for contacting me with your thoughts about social safety net programs. I appreciate hearing from you on this matter.
There is a clear need to strengthen the American social safety net, which helps millions of Americans access health care, lifts families out of poverty, and combats hunger. More than 40 million Americans live in poverty, and in our congressional district, the U.S. Census estimates that the poverty rate is 9.8%, with 10.9% of children under 18 living below the official poverty line. The social safety net helps to provide the financial and health protections necessary for a secure and healthy retirement, medical assistance to our most vulnerable, protections from child abuse, and a lifeline for low-income families and people with disabilities.
In Congress, I have fought to maintain and strengthen much-needed social safety programs including Meals on Wheels, affordable housing grants, the child tax credit, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as “food stamps.” In March 2021, I was proud to support President Biden's American Rescue Plan, a bill that, among other priorities, expands subsidies in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces to cover more middle class families, and makes the child tax credit fully refundable for 2021 while increasing the annual amount from the current $2,000 per child to $3,000 per child. Californians have been struggling for over a year in the face of COVID. Finally – after months of Republican obstruction and political gameplay – we have passed relief that actually meets the urgency of this moment.
I've also recently introduced a bill called the Affordable Housing Redevelopment Act, a measure to reauthorize the Neighborhood Stabilization Program and authorize $1.5 billion to help create new affordable housing through the rehabilitation or redevelopment of old, vacant or foreclosed properties. This bill not only establishes smart long-term investments, but it also focuses resources on more immediate solutions to meet the urgent needs of the current housing crisis. During my time in Congress I've also fought for legislation that increased the amount of badly-needed affordable housing in West Marin by giving the County of Marin exclusive first rights to purchase a roughly 30-acre property in Point Reyes Station previously owned by the Coast Guard, and repurposing the site for housing and community uses.
In the 116th Congress, I was a cosponsor of the Closing the Meal Gap Act, which would have increased the adequacy of SNAP benefits for those who need help combatting food insecurity and hunger. I was also a cosponsor of the Social Security Fairness Act of 2019, which would have repealed Social Security's Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). I will continue to be a stalwart defender of these critical protections.
Thank you again for sharing your views on this issue. The people of California’s 2nd District are the most important voices I listen to while serving in Congress. Please do not hesitate to contact my office if I can be of assistance to you in the future.
Sincerely,
Jared Huffman
Member of Congress
P.S. If you would like to stay up to date on my work in Congress, please subscribe to my newsletter by clicking here, friending me on Facebook, or following me on Twitter at @RepHuffman.
I am confused how a handful of states are affected but not all states; since Social Security is a Federal Program, shouldn't it be consistent with other states? Something is really off here. What if I moved to Tennessee? Will I get my Social Security since I contributed to the program?
ReplyDeleteBoth my wife and I earned our quarters for SS outside of our teaching job, but cannot collect our SS. This is unfair and as a result of this we can barely cover our expenses as our teaching pension does not cover inflation. Please vote to end this provision. Thank You
ReplyDeleteI worked all my life since I was a teenager at different jobs. I paid into social security. That money was my hard earned money and now that i decide to teach at a later time in my life and now retired, I am not entiteld to the money I earned! This is thievery from the Government. Cooked by Congess who we pay through our tax dollars and they get to have life time benefits! I feel betrayed and disgusted by Congress that marginalize Teachers!
ReplyDeleteMy situation was brought on by becoming a widow at 58. I went on to have 35 years service in the school system and then retired. Because of the WEP I struggle. My husband payed into the system for 35 years at a local factory. My opinion is his soc security has nothing to do with my retirement. It’s unfair that I’ve been put in this position. We both payed into our own benefits. One should have nothing to do with the other. It’s unfair. When I see how much money that had been handed out to noncitizens that never payed into anything it makes me angry and disheartened. Please fix this unjustified law that discriminates against widows that served their schools. It’s unfair!! We struggle and we shouldn’t have to after dedicating yeare and years of service!
ReplyDeleteI worked at jobs where I was paying into Social Security in Ohio. Then I became a teacher and a librarian in Massachusetts. Upon retirement from my job as a librarian, I receive only 800.00 a month as pension. I was receiving around 344.00 a month from Social Security. Then the Windfall kicked in, the 344.00 was cut in half, and with the increase in Medicare, I now receive 72.00 a month from Social Security. This is grossly unfair. The provision is crudely calculated and does not take into account individual factors, such as how small my pension is. Also, I paid into Social Security. My money, not the government’s. It is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI worked as a teacher in Ca. for 33 years .
ReplyDeleteI also worked many other jobs in order to support myself and my family. I worked when I was in high school. I worked and paid my own way through college , and worked several retail jobs during my tenure as a teacher . I earned enough credits and paid into social security to earn benefits . Consequently , I have had my benefits decreased by both the Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision. I feel penalized for working as a teacher . It’s no wonder there’s a national teacher shortage.
ReplyDeleteI am a soon to be retired teacher who had a midlife career change to improve my income and quality of life. I spent 8 years working full time and going to school at night to finally reach my goal to be a teacher at the age of 50. Upon reaching my goal I was met with the reality that, upon retirement, I would end up in poverty again because of these unfair laws.
Well here we are Dec. 2022 and the repeal of the WEP/GPO were not included in the 1.7 Trillion dollar Omnibus Bill recently passed by the Senate. In over 4,000 + pages, not one mention. I have watched the efforts of CalRTA members over 20 + years to no avail. To say I am disappointed is a far cry from what I am truly feeling. Our tax dollars go to give free health care to illegal immigrants and full Social Security benefits for those who paid $0 into the system. I have lost faith in politicians who always come up with the sorry excuse they will continue to support the efforts of the most dedicated retirees, yet do absolutely nothing to further this cause. Subcommittee Chair Rosa DeLauro, is quoted as saying, "this bill is crucial to our country's economic success and Americans' quality of life." Oops she failed to say the exception being the millions of retired teachers! Very angry that the repeal of the WEP/GPO does not stand on its' own merit but we have to beg to make it part of an outrageous spending bill called the Omnibus Bill or should it be called the Ominous Bill.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very bitter pill to swallow, especially after obtaining 305 cosponsors for HR 82! Reportedly, House members balked because WEP/GPO repeal was not paid for, in this bill.
DeleteRepeal is about Fairness. It would have a long term impact on future Social Security finances, (Trust Funds), but not on the Federal budget. (per CBO)
HR 82 was a clean bill, no earmarks, new taxes etc.
Adding/increasing Social Security funding (to "pay" for this) will only ever happen if Congress gets off it's rear end by passing comprehensive S.S. reform, & increasing revenue (FICA Tax).
In the meantime: we should receive the S.S. Benefit that we have earned & helped pay for. The House had enough support to pass this and it would not even have become law until the Senate acts!?!
A Bitter Pill, indeed.
We must now push the Senate for WEP/GPO Repeal and major Social Security Reform, such as S.3071.
Grassroots efforts by a majority of Americans, are desperately needed.
One of my main issues with the unfairness of the WEP /GPO is this: When I was going thru my (wicked) divorce - after being married for 25 years - the court takes into account my CALSTRS contributions but SS is not included in the formula at all! So I ended up having to give my husband half of my CALSTRS and I get none of his SS, (nor none of mine which I paid into for 10 years before I began teaching). So he gets to collect my CALSTRS and his SS. It is not fair!
ReplyDeleteThis is maddening!
DeleteI did not go into teaching until I was in my 40's, I don't get all the credit for the years I worked as an RN and a lab technician, and I don't get all that I would be due for spousal divorce credits. Unfortunately, I was ignorant of this when I retired, ( social security projected income updates that are mailed out didn't have this info on them when I was at pre-retirement age). I was truly blind-sided. this law is irrational and a form of theft. I deserve to get all the credits I worked for. My ex gets his pension and social security because he has a private pension plan. What's the difference?
ReplyDeleteAgree, our Social Security projected income statements never accounted for these deductions. The statements we received show the amount we should be earning if our true benefits were paid to us. So how where we supposed to plan for our retirement? A gut wrenching surprise after 45 years of work. 20 years Private Sector 25 years Education.
DeleteMy husband served in the military and other jobs for 20 plus years (including being a private and public teacher for many years). He now has worked another 20 years as a police officer (pension). A total of 40 years worked. We are struggling with how to make ends meet in retirement.
ReplyDeleteI am ready to retire from the private sector and would love to be a substitute public school teacher. Jumped through all the hoops for some "certification", but i stopped at signing up for the mandatory pension program at risk of social security. I am sure i am not the only one.
ReplyDeleteI retired from my local school system as a custodian, at the age of 69, in November of 2015 after 9 years of service. My school pension was $561.83 resulting in a WEP of $285.80. The WEP penalty was deducted in 2008, 7 years before I retired and received my pension, when I reached my early retirement age of 62. Deducting the WEP in 2008 also. resulted in a $42.90 reduction of my earned SS COLA and a $86.30 reduction of my earned credit for working 39 months after my retirement age of 66. This resulted in a $415.00 monthly reduction of my earned SS benefits. When I complained to SS they saw no problems.
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ReplyDeleteI began my teaching career at age 40, in a district that offered California Public Employees Retirement System known as CalPERS. If I was informed, I would have STAYED with this district until I was vested. I needed only eight more weeks. Remaining with CalPERS I would have avoided the economical/penalties and cost. I transferred to a district that only offered California State Teachers Retirement System known as CalSTRS. In doing so I forfeited 40% my previously earned social security benefits and my survivor benefits.
Here is the impact. If I receive my spouse’s benefits, my Social Security payment would be $1,570 a month. I am entitled to receive my own earned benefits of $1,264 a month minus the Windfall Elimination Provision (GPO/WEP) I now receive $762.00 a month. A loss of $9,969 a year. If my spouse predeceases me, I am not able to collect his survivor’s benefits. $30,000 a year. A destressing surprise after a long career. We currently purchased a life insurance policy for my spouse to add to my income upon his passing. This policy will only cover lost income for two years. Cost of this insurance is $4,800 a year.
Why Do I Have to BEG For the Benefits That I Have Earned?
I served as a bank manager for two decades before transitioning into teaching. Throughout my career, I diligently contributed to and am now fully vested in social security. As I plan for retirement in the state of California, it becomes evident that my reliance on the entirety of my social security benefits is crucial for financial sustainability.
ReplyDeleteComplicating matters, my husband, who is significantly older than me, holds social security benefits vital to our joint financial stability. In the unfortunate event of his passing, the absence of his social security, coupled with my reduced benefits, poses a substantial threat to my ability to continue residing in California. This prospect forces me to contemplate the distressing possibility of leaving my family and grappling with financial hardships in another state.
I find the existing law unjust, as it places an undue burden on individuals who have diligently contributed to the social security system. I am not seeking entitlements beyond what I have earnestly invested in throughout my professional life. Moreover, the unfairness of this law is exacerbated by its selective impact, affecting only a handful of states. It is my hope that a reevaluation of these regulations will promote greater equity and ensure a more just outcome for individuals facing similar circumstances.
The House Ways and Means committee is “playing” us. We need to call every day. Simply expressing our situations does not impact their behavior in relation to their constituents’ struggles. I worked 15 years before teaching and was a reservist with 2 presidential recalls during my teaching career. My spouse passed and I factored her Social Security benefits into our household budget - I was aware of WEP but not GPO. We have to call and do more than blog. The direct phone number to the house ways and means committee is: (202) 225-3625. We can’t let them Continue to “punk” us.
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