Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)

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If you work for a federal, state or local government agency, a nonprofit organization or in another country, you may be eligible for a pension based on earnings not covered by Social Security.

A pension based on earnings not covered by Social Security can affect the amount of your Social Security benefit. We do not know whether you are eligible for such a pension, so the benefit estimates on your Social Security Statement have not been adjusted for such a possibility.

Our Windfall Elimination Provision fact sheet explains whether you might be affected.

See how WEP can affect your benefit

If you think your pension will affect your Social Security benefit, you can

Look at our WEP chart to see how WEP affects Social Security benefits.
Use our WEP Online Calculator or download our Detailed Calculator to see how your benefit may be reduced by WEP.
Find additional information about WEP on our Information for Government Employees website.

New government pension information on your Social Security Statement

As required by law, beginning in 2007, your Social Security Statement contains more information on how two provisions of law—Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset—may affect your future retirement benefit.

If you have always worked in jobs in which you've paid Social Security taxes, the bottom of page two of your Statement will have this information about the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).

"In the future, if you receive a pension from employment in which you do not pay Social Security taxes, such as some federal, state or local government work, some nonprofit organizations or foreign employment, and you also qualify for your own Social Security retirement or disability benefit, your Social Security benefit may be reduced, but not eliminated, by WEP. The amount of the reduction, if any, depends on your earnings and number of years in jobs in which you paid Social Security taxes, and the year you are age 62 or become disabled. For more information, please see Windfall Elimination Provision (Publication No. 05-10045) at www.socialsecurity.gov/WEP."

If you have worked in some jobs in which you've paid Social Security taxes and worked in some in which you did not, page two of your Statement will have this information about the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).

"If you receive a pension from employment in which you did not pay Social Security taxes and you also qualify for your own Social Security retirement or disability benefit, your Social Security benefit may be reduced, but not eliminated, by WEP. The amount of the reduction, if any, depends on your earnings and number of years in jobs in which you paid Social Security taxes, and the year you are age 62 or become disabled. To estimate WEP’s effect on your Social Security benefit, visit www.socialsecurity.gov/WEP-CHART. In 2008, the maximum monthly reduction is $355.50. For more information, please see Windfall Elimination Provision (Publication No. 05-10045) at www.socialsecurity.gov/WEP."

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