Russet

■ You are eligible for a spousal benefit
even if you never worked.
■ You must be age 62 or older and have
been married to your current spouse for
at least one year.
■ Your spouse must be receiving their
retirement or disability benefit

Jerseygirl

can you please provide an official link to that info? I have been told otherwise

durham_lad

That is exactly what we plan to do.


suppose your 20 years gets you £6,000/year OAP. Half of your contributions were made from your job in the UK, and that job did not pay into SS. The other 10 years were all voluntary contributions therefore £3,000 will be used in the WEP calculation to reduce your SS.

Russet

This information was from a recent seminar I attended but on SSA.gov under Retirement Benefits - Benefits for your spouse it outlines the same.

Jerseygirl

It says you MAY be eligible IF you qualify. That doesn’t mean that you will definitely be entitled to any percentage of your spouses SS pension.

austin_d_powers

Fionn - That is NOT correct. All voluntary contributions (including those made while back in the UK) will be WEP exempt. So from your example only 50% of your UK pension is WEPable.

austin_d_powers

UPDATE: I won the lottery.
My NI record has been updated with 11 years of voluntary class 2 contributions from my time abroad ( 2006-07 to 2016-17 )

Note: Those 11 years of voluntary class 2 contributions are showing as "Self-employment" on my NI record.
The voluntary class 3 contributions for time in the UK are showing as "Voluntary" on my NI record.

Another 9 years of voluntary class 3 contributions and I get full UK pension (I could have already paid this as class 2 from time in the US, but you snooze you lose)

vikingsail

Q If I retire early in the USA say 58 and then return to the UK (9 years before my retirement eligibility int he UK) how do I ensure my UK pension contributions are still maximized so I get as close to the 35 years contributions necessary for max pension entitlement. Can I still make the class 2's or is there another way?

austin_d_powers

Check your NI record and apply to pay class 2 voluntary contributions for all allowed prior years you were in the USA (Do this asap).
Continue paying class 2 voluntary contributions while you are in the USA.
When you return to the UK pay voluntary class 3 payments until you reach 35 years eligibility.
Then stop paying.

Beraider

Excellent advice.

vikingsail

Thank you appreciated.