WEP - less than 30 years contribution

Hey Guys,

UK Citizen, US resident. I have 22 years US SS contributions. None for the last 10 years though. I have already qualified for US SS, and will qualify for UK pension as well. I had UK NI contributions for last 10 years.

My questions are:

1. Can I get my UK contributions for last 10 years applied to US to give me more than 30 years and therefore avoid WEP?
2. If I can't do that, if I defer taking one of the pensions do I avoid WEP until I actually take both pensions?

Thanks

A

Hey Guys,

UK Citizen, US resident. I have 22 years US SS contributions. None for the last 10 years though. I have already qualified for US SS, and will qualify for UK pension as well. I had UK NI contributions for last 10 years.

My questions are:

1. Can I get my UK contributions for last 10 years applied to US to give me more than 30 years and therefore avoid WEP?

No.

2. If I can't do that, if I defer taking one of the pensions do I avoid WEP until I actually take both pensions?

Thanks

A

If you are not yet receiving the non-SS earnings pension then WEP won't apply. I would double check whether WEP actually applies in your situation ie. UK SS from voluntary NI payments doesn't trigger any WEP.

You also might look into delaying US SS and that will get you a bigger benefit at age 70.

Nun,

Thanks for that. A lot of my UK NI payments are not voluntary - most from when I was working (a lot of UK directors pay themselves a small salary which does not attract NI payments but still count as a credit for NI purposes). I might need to add a few more voluntary payments in UK to catch up - so let's say that 25% of my UK NI payments were voluntary, but 75% were due to earned income. How does that affect WEP?

So WEP only applies when taking US SS - I have the option to defer than until 70 - so I could take UK pension from 66 until 70 with no WEP reduction by the sound of it.

I'd love to have 30 US years to avoid WEP altogether but I'd rather not work another 8 years!

Thanks

A

 - so let's say that 25% of my UK NI payments were voluntary, but 75% were due to earned income. How does that affect WEP?

The WEP amount would be calculated only using the 75% of the UK pension due to earned income not subject to FICA.

So WEP only applies when taking US SS - I have the option to defer than until 70 - so I could take UK pension from 66 until 70 with no WEP reduction by the sound of it.

WEP only applies to US SS. WEP will only be calculated once you start US SS.

What happens if I take US SS before UK? When I apply for US SS presumably it will ask me if I am receiving a foreign pension - which I wouldn't be (I haven't started yet…). If I subsequently received the UK pension after US pension was already being paid would I then have to tell the US that I have now started receiving a UK pension?

If I subsequently received the UK pension after US pension was already being paid would I then have to tell the US that I have now started receiving a UK pension?

Yes. More than likely you will be asked about what future pensions you might receive at your initial interview for claiming SS. You are required to answer truthfully under oath (perjury).

WEP will not apply until a non-SS contributed pension commences, but as soon as it does, WEP applies. If they find a non-SS contributing pension is being received without notification, they can reclaim SS payments already made up to that point.