UK state pension and USA social security
#241
Re: UK state pension and USA social security
I will say that I have discovered, since this thread started, there is in fact quite good information about WEP on the AARP web site.
#242
Re: UK state pension and USA social security
I just want a £10,000 pay rise in my final year. I'll even pay for it myself.
#243
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Re: UK state pension and USA social security
I think the old-style defined benefits schemes are peculiar in that way. The newer-style defined benefits schemes, based on career average salary make more sense as although the benefit is somewhat linear (1/80th or 1/60th), it is rescaled to take into account the amount of the contribution (which is proportional to the salary in each year) at each career point.
I just want a £10,000 pay rise in my final year. I'll even pay for it myself.
I just want a £10,000 pay rise in my final year. I'll even pay for it myself.
#244
Re: UK state pension and USA social security
I'm pretty sure that colleagues in the Tennesee State retirement system (essentially a defined benefit scheme) also gained from teaching summer school classes for similar reasons. Amazing when you consider full-time SS pay was about 25% of annual salary!
#245
#246
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Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 111
Re: UK state pension and USA social security
Not really. Nothing to do with how hard you work, but whether you would (without WEP) end up with a higher pension by splitting your work life between FICA paying employment and non FICA paying employment (for instance, working in the United Kingdom or in Massachusetts as a town or state employee) than by paying FICA all your working years.
No, of course not.
#247
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Re: UK state pension and USA social security
https://www.copera.org/pdf/5/5-36.pdf
#248
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Re: UK state pension and USA social security
I don't think this is correct. The formula is skewed towards a higher percentage replacement of lower income earners as opposed to higher, and calculates the "average monthly index earnings" assuming a 35 year record of earnings. But I see see nothing in the formula that would weight things in terms of earlier years of employment. See pages 2 and 3 in the WEP section of this link:
https://www.copera.org/pdf/5/5-36.pdf
https://www.copera.org/pdf/5/5-36.pdf
#249
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Re: UK state pension and USA social security
Presumably because the UK pension is a flat amount regardless of earnings (assuming you have the number of years needed for a "full" pension) whereas the US formula is based both on years and income. With the skewing of the formula to lower income earners the WEP attempts to deal with the perceived advantage the formula gives people who have paid less years into SS. The problem is it does it in a completely arbitrary and unfair manner, as some of the examples from theOAP illustrate.
#250
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Re: UK state pension and USA social security
So no, not only would they not top it up for you, you'd probably be WEPed.
However, if you worked abroad and got no pension for it, then you wouldn't be WEPed but neither would you be topped up.
As you are discovering, life isn't always fair.
#251
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Joined: Jul 2007
Location: North Norfolk and northern New York State
Posts: 14,547
Re: UK state pension and USA social security
Presumably because the UK pension is a flat amount regardless of earnings (assuming you have the number of years needed for a "full" pension) whereas the US formula is based both on years and income. With the skewing of the formula to lower income earners the WEP attempts to deal with the perceived advantage the formula gives people who have paid less years into SS. The problem is it does it in a completely arbitrary and unfair manner, as some of the examples from theOAP illustrate.
#252
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Re: UK state pension and USA social security
Isn't the other big difference that the British state pension is not strictly based on years of earnings that pay a tax (FICA in the US SS case.). In Britain there is an element of social fairness or whatever, in that you get credit for years of unemployment, and I believe years of child care, elder care etc?
#253
Re: UK state pension and USA social security
Isn't the other big difference that the British state pension is not strictly based on years of earnings that pay a tax (FICA in the US SS case.). In Britain there is an element of social fairness or whatever, in that you get credit for years of unemployment, and I believe years of child care, elder care etc?
The new UK state pension will advantage the low paid and stay at home carers as it will be a flat rate based on years of contributions, not the size of the contribution. It is also a great benefit to those who pay voluntary NICs which might be of interest to a few folks here
#254
Re: UK state pension and USA social security
Hopefully we may have the chance to make up some Voluntary NI Payments next year.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/p...ion-boost.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/p...ion-boost.html
#255
Re: UK state pension and USA social security
Hopefully we may have the chance to make up some Voluntary NI Payments next year.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/p...ion-boost.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/p...ion-boost.html
It would have been a logistical nightmare, but I'd have thought they would have graduated the introduction of this rather than having people with birth dates within a few weeks of each other getting such a drastically different pension.
There seem to have been some very drastic changes in pensions in such a short time (three changes in how many years of contributions needed for full pension, change in retirement age, and a change from the dual-band pension to the flat rate pension). Some unfortunate people are getting stuck in the middle of it all.