Ask Rusty – Husband Upset about HIs Wife’s Survivor Benefit

Social Security Matters

by Russell Gloor, National Social Security Advisor at the AMAC Foundation, the non-profit arm of the Association of Mature American Citizens

Dear Rusty: This is a matter that I find particularly irksome. My wife – a retired teacher – was told that, should I pre-decease her, she is not eligible to get survivor benefits from my Social Security payments. I’m sure there is some arcane, bureaucratic justification for this, but I think it unconscionable. Is this true and if so, what sort of major miracle would be required to alter that? Signed: Disgruntled in Texas

Dear Disgruntled: If your wife was a teacher in a school district (which includes all Texas school districts) that exempted her from paying into Social Security, then any Social Security surviving spouse benefit she becomes entitled to from you will be affected by a provision called the Government Pension Offset (GPO). The GPO will reduce her Social Security survivor benefit by two-thirds (67%) of the amount of her (non-covered) teacher’s pension, which can (and often does) eliminate her surviving spouse benefit. The GPO affects teachers in about 15 states who have opted not to participate in Social Security.

For information, this is similar to what happens to a spouse who has also earned a Social Security retirement benefit – their survivor benefit is offset by their Social Security retirement benefit, and only the excess (if any) is paid. The GPO is actually a bit more generous, in that your wife’s survivor benefit is only offset by 2/3rds of her non-covered teacher’s pension, whereas the offset is 100% for other surviving spouses who have earned SS retirement benefits as well. This is a provision that has been law since 1977, affecting all those who have a pension earned without contributing to Social Security. Its premise was to better equalize the way SS benefits are paid to everyone.

How can that be altered? Well, the only way is by Congress changing Social Security law. There have been numerous attempts to change the GPO law over the years, none of which have been successful. Indeed, there is a proposed law – H.R. 82 – The Social Security Fairness Act – which was introduced in Congress last year. That proposal, to eliminate the GPO (and a sister provision called the Windfall Elimination Provision), has essentially made little Congressional progress, short of a few committee hearings, and the outlook for passage at this point is about zero.

I’m afraid I can’t be optimistic that the GPO will be repealed, as Congress is more keenly focused on resolving Social Security’s looming solvency issue, set to come to a head in less than a decade.