What is WEP?  The Windfall Elimination Provision, (“WEP”), is a source of concern and some serious financial implications for Americans living abroad.  Will it affect you when you retire abroad? The answer is - it might.

WEP, in a very broad nutshell, can affect the benefits that you are paid by the Social Security Administration. If you receive both a pension from doing work that did not pay into Social Security and are also receiving a pension from Social Security, the amount you receive from Social Security may be reduced and spousal benefits may be eliminated.

How do you prepare for WEP? What if as a retired person you receive a pension from abroad as well as Social Security – how will WEP affect you?

Democrats Abroad has been working on the elimination of WEP since the early 2000s. There is currently a bill in the House -  HR 82 Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 - which would eliminate WEP. The DA Seniors Caucus is currently advocating for WEP elimination. Please join us to find out more.

Our guest speaker is Nancy Altman from Social Security Works and she will speak to us about WEP and answer our questions about WEP.

About our Speaker:

Nancy J. Altman has a forty-five year background in the areas of Social Security and private pensions. She is president of Social Security Works and chair of the Strengthen Social Security coalition.
Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi appointed Ms. Altman to a six-year term, starting October 1, 2017, on the Social Security Advisory Board. The seven-person Board is a bipartisan, independent federal government agency established in 1994 to advise the President, Congress, and the Commissioner of Social Security.
Ms. Altman is the author of The Battle for Social Security: From FDR’s Vision to Bush’s Gamble (John Wiley & Sons, 2005) and The Truth About Social Security: The Founders’ Words Refute Revisionist History, Zombie Lies, and Common Misunderstandings (Strong Arm Press, 2018). She is also co-author of Social Security Works! Why Social Security Isn’t Going Broke and How Expanding It Will Help Us All (The New Press, 2015). She has shared her Social Security expertise on numerous television and radio shows, including PBS NewsHour, MSNBC, and FOX News. She has published op-eds in dozens of newspapers including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today.
From 1983 to 1989, Ms. Altman was on the faculty of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and taught courses on private pensions and Social Security at the Harvard Law School. In 1982, she was Alan Greenspan’s assistant in his position as chairman of the bipartisan commission that developed the 1983 Social Security amendments.
From 1977 to 1981, she was a legislative assistant to Senator John C. Danforth (R-Mo) and advised the Senator with respect to Social Security issues. From 1974 to 1977, she was a tax lawyer with Covington & Burling, where she handled a variety of private pension matters.
Ms. Altman chairs the Board of Directors of the Pension Rights Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of beneficiary rights. She is a member of the Boards of Directors of the Alliance for Retired Americans Educational Fund, the Economic Opportunity Institute, Latinos for the Secure Retirement, and the Institute for America’s Future. In the mid-1980’s, she was on the organizing committee and the first board of directors of the National Academy of Social Insurance.