malch

I understand that my US SS payments may be reduced by WEP when I start receiving my UK State Pension. And I further understand only the portion of my UK State Pension based on UK employment will reduce my SS (and not the portion earned through voluntary contributions).

However, I have some other sources of UK pension income. My questions are:

1. Does WEP apply to an occupational pension I earned from a former UK employer while living and working in the UK?

2. Does WEP apply to retirement income from a plan not directly related to employment (specifically, a FSAVC plan)?

durham_lad

I'm pretty sure that WEP applies to a UK occupational pension. I have 2 of those and expect them to reduce my SS through WEP since they are equivalent to working in a job in the US that does not pay into SS.

I would not expect an FSAVC to be affected by WEP because it looks like it is equivalent to buying a variable annuity in the US, which is not linked to employment.

malch

Thanks. I previously thought that WEP applied to the state pension only. But on further reading, I've reached exactly the same conclusions as you.

Darn :-(

lansbury

I can confirm from experience that WEP applies to UK occupational pensions. Someone here also posted that their local SSA office was saying it also applied to the voluntary part of the State pension, and they haven't reported back that they had successfully appealed that yet.