Windfall Elimination Provision 10045 EN 05
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SocialSecurity.gov Windfall Elimination Provision
Your Social Security retirement or
disability benets can be reduced
The Windfall Elimination Provision can affect how we
calculate your retirement or disability benet. If you
work for an employer who doesn’t withhold Social
Security taxes from your salary, such as a government
agency or an employer in another country, any
retirement or disability pension you get from that work
can reduce your Social Security benets.
When your benets can be aected
This provision can affect you when you earn a
retirement or disability pension from an employer who
didn’t withhold Social Security taxes and you qualify
for Social Security retirement or disability benets from
work in other jobs for which you did pay taxes.
The Windfall Elimination Provision can apply if:
• You reached 62 after 1985; or
• You became disabled after 1985; and
• You rst became eligible for a monthly pension based
on work where you didn’t pay Social Security taxes after
1985. This rule applies even if you’re still working.
This provision also affects Social Security benets for
people who performed federal service under the Civil
Service Retirement System (CSRS) after 1956. We
won’t reduce your Social Security benet amounts if
you only performed federal service under a system
such as the Federal Employees’ Retirement System
(FERS). Social Security taxes are withheld for workers
under FERS.
How it works
Social Security benets are intended to replace only
some of a worker’s pre-retirement earnings.
We base your Social Security benet on your average
monthly earnings adjusted for average wage growth.
We separate your average earnings into three amounts
and multiply the amounts using three factors to
compute your full Primary Insurance Amount (PIA).
For example, for a worker who turns 62 in 2018, the
rst $895 of average monthly earnings is multiplied by
90 percent; earnings between $895 and $5,397 by 32
percent; and the balance by 15 percent. The sum of the
three amounts equals the PIA which is then decreased
or increased depending on whether the worker starts
benets before or after full retirement age (FRA). This
formula produces the monthly payment amount.
When we apply this formula, the percentage of career
average earnings paid to lower-paid workers is greater
than higher-paid workers. For example, workers age
62 in 2018, with average earnings of $3,000 per
month could receive a benet at FRA of $1,479 (49
percent) of their pre-retirement earnings increased by
applicable cost of living adjustments (COLAs). For a
worker with average earnings of $8,000 per month, the
benet starting at FRA could be $2,636 (32 percent)
plus COLAs. However, if either of these workers start
benets earlier, we’ll reduce their monthly benet.
Why we use a dierent formula
Before 1983, people whose primary job wasn’t
covered by Social Security had their Social Security
benets calculated as if they were long-term, low-wage
workers. They had the advantage of receiving a Social
Security benet representing a higher percentage of
their earnings, plus a pension from a job for which
they didn’t pay Social Security taxes. Congress
passed the Windfall Elimination Provision to remove
that advantage.
Under the provision, we reduce the 90 percent factor
in our formula and phase it in for workers who reached
age 62 or became disabled between 1986 and 1989.
For people who reach 62 or became disabled in 1990
or later, we reduce the 90 percent factor to as little as
40 percent.
Some exceptions
The Windfall Elimination Provision doesn’t apply if:
• You’re a federal worker rst hired after December
31, 1983;
• You were employed on December 31, 1983, by a
nonprot organization that didn’t withhold Social Security
taxes from your pay at rst, but then began withholding
Social Security taxes;
• Your only pension is for railroad employment;
• The only work you performed for which you didn’t pay
Social Security taxes was before 1957; or
• You have 30 or more years of substantial earnings under
Social Security.
Windfall Elimination Provision
2018
Printed on recycled paper
The Windfall Elimination Provision doesn’t apply to
survivors benets. We may reduce widows or widowers
benets because of another law. For more information,
read Government Pension Offset (Publication
No. 05-10007).
Social Security years of substantial earnings
If you have 30 or more years of substantial earnings,
we don’t reduce the standard 90 percent factor in
our formula. See the rst table that lists substantial
earnings for each year.
The second table shows the percentage used to
reduce the 90 percent factor depending on the number
of years of substantial earnings. If you have 21 to 29
years of substantial earnings, we reduce the 90 percent
factor to between 45 and 85 percent. To see the
maximum amount we could reduce your benet, visit
www.socialsecurity.gov/planners/retire/wep-chart.html.
A guarantee
The law protects you if you get a low pension. We
won’t reduce your Social Security benet by more than
half of your pension for earnings after 1956 on which
you didn’t pay Social Security taxes.
Contacting Social Security
The most convenient way to contact us anytime,
anywhere is to visit www.socialsecurity.gov. There,
you can: apply for benets; open a my Social Security
account, which you can use to review your
Social Security Statement, verify your earnings, print
a benet verication letter, change your direct deposit
information, request a replacement Medicare card, and
get a replacement SSA-1099/1042S; obtain valuable
information; nd publications; get answers to frequently
asked questions; and much more.
If you don’t have access to the internet, we offer many
automated services by telephone, 24 hours a day, 7
days a week. Call us toll-free at 1-800-772-1213 or at
our TTY number, 1-800-325-0778, if you’re deaf or hard
of hearing.
If you need to speak to a person, we can answer your
calls from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday.
We ask for your patience during busy periods since
you may experience a higher than usual rate of busy
signals and longer hold times to speak to us. We look
forward to serving you.
Social Security Administration
Publication No. 05-10045 | ICN 460275 | Unit of Issue — HD (one hundred)
January 2018 (Recycle prior editions)
Windfall Elimination Provision
Produced and published at U.S. taxpayer expense
Years of substantial
earnings Percentage
30 or more 90 percent
29 85 percent
28 80 percent
27 75 percent
26 70 percent
25 65 percent
24 60 percent
23 55 percent
22 50 percent
21 45 percent
20 or less 40 percent
Year Substantial earnings
1937–1954 $900
1955–1958 $1,050
1959–1965 $1,200
1966–1967 $1,650
1968–1971 $1,950
1972 $2,250
1973 $2,700
1974 $3,300
1975 $3,525
1976 $3,825
1977 $4,125
1978 $4,425
1979 $4,725
1980 $5,100
1981 $5,550
1982 $6,075
1983 $6,675
1984 $7,050
1985 $7,425
1986 $7,875
1987 $8,175
1988 $8,400
1989 $8,925
1990 $9,525
1991 $9,900
Year Substantial earnings
1992 $10,350
1993 $10,725
1994 $11,250
1995 $11,325
1996 $11,625
1997 $12,150
1998 $12,675
1999 $13,425
2000 $14,175
2001 $14,925
2002 $15,750
2003 $16,125
2004 $16,275
2005 $16,725
2006 $17,475
2007 $18,150
2008 $18,975
2009–2011 $19,800
2012 $20,475
2013 $21,075
2014 $21,750
2015-2016 $22,050
2017 $23,625
2018 $23,850
