totalization

darko banic

New Member
Jurisdiction
Virginia
The WEP also does not apply to (1) an individual who on January 1, 1984, was an employee of a
government or nonprofit organization and to whom Social Security coverage was mandatorily
extended by the 1983 amendments to the Social Security Act (e.g., the President, Members of
Congress in office on December 31, 1983); (2) workers who reached the age of 62, became
disabled, or were first eligible for a pension from non-covered employment before 1986;
(3) benefits from foreign Social Security systems that are based on a "totalization" agreement
with the United States; and (4) people whose only non-covered employment that resulted in a
pension was in military service before 1957 or is based on railroad employment.

I am writing for my aunt. She worked 2 years in Switzerland and according TO TOTALIZATION AGREEMEN BETWEEN USA AND SWITZERLAND (http://www.ssa.gov/international/documents/EN-05-10190.pdf) she meets requirments for swiss disability benefit .She has SSDIpayments. She did not sent SSA-2490 form yet because in SSA OFFICE some worker told her that they lower-reduce amount of her SSDI income by 500 $, and that the income from Switzerland will be only 100 $( i think this is not true because in page 7 is written:
"If you qualify for Social Security benefits from the United States and a pension from Switzerland, and you did not need the agreement to qualify for either benefit, U.S. law may reduce the amount of your U.S. benefit."
She needed this agreement to qualify for Swiss disability pension. I did not understand https://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf. They want to know should they send the SSA-2490 FORM.
Thanks in advance
 
You might want to speak with a social security lawyer, or a representative at your nearest SS office.

It's my understanding that under WEP, your entitlement isn't effected if you receive certain funds from other pension schemes.

That's CONgress' talking point. You'd have to be an idiot to by it.

I disagree with what the CONgress did, but they're better than the rest of us, and they rarely care what we lesser beings think.

For example, if Millie gets $500 a month from SS.
Millie learns she is eligible to receive $1,000 a month from her former employer, Unity School District.
The US CONgress changed the law to CHEAT Millie out of getting $1,000 + $500 by only allowing Millie to receive $1,000 with her $500 SS entitlement going to Unity School District, but Poor Millie (and thousands like her) get screwed out of the potential $1,500.

Deep inside the greedy little scam, that $500 is discounted using the CONgress' unique mathematical skills and their official CONgress CHEATOMETER.

I think the CONgress created this little SCAM five, maybe six years ago, QUIETLY, because that's how they do their best chicanery.

Seriously, not much you can do if you want the entitlement but dance to their music and bow in thanks when instructed.
 
WEP is way older than 5 or 6 years. Basically, it takes our years of service from the benefits calculation, work for which SS was not taken out of the paycheck, and for which the individual is receiving some sort of pension benefit. You can not count years you were not paying into the system while double dipping and getting a benefit from whomever paid you for those years.

For the record, there are only 15 or so states where teachers are affected and even within those states, it does not affect every district.

For your aunt, during her employment outside the country, she was not paying into the social security system. You can find more about this and how to calculate her benefit here International Programs - Windfall Elimination Provision and Foreign Pensions
 
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