how can the state of Connecticut prevent one from getting Social Security, a federal program? And especially one's deceased husband's Social Security? It's mere curiosity. I don't live in Connecticut and have never been married.

And I heartily join you in your gratitude to the repukes. I hope the new year brings them everything they deserve, and more.

can be exempted from SS in exchange for state (or other) retirement benefits.

Sometimes it works out - but we're learning, sometimes it doesn't.

in the military.

I work in public service but in my state government employees pay into SS and so they receive that too upon retirement.

But not all, like the upcoming retirees that paid into one system only. SS did not fall into the picture, hence no contributions paid in and nothing to receive.

My late aunt was a Federal retiree and rec'd nothing from SS and that included her late husband's SS as well. They have since time changed the laws around this issue but 15 years ago this is how it still was.

depending on your financial situation and any percentage of disability that can be documented.

It's not SS, but it's something.

Social Security is calculated based on average wages over 40 years (I believe). My wages were zero during the 15 years (and counting) that I worked for an entity for which I contributed to the state teacher's retirement system. So I have 15 years of zeroes in that lowers my base.

ON TOP of that, becuase I will draw an STRS pention, my already lowered social security is decreased further because I qualify for the STRS pension.

I don't mind them discounting social security for the fact that I have a state pension plan. I only paid in for approximately 17 years. So I shouldn't get SS at the level I would have had I had contributed for 40 years. But - it is not fair to ding it twice: once by lowering the base on which it is calculated and then a second time by lowering the decreased pension because I draw from STRS, as well.

The years I have not paid into SS are fully accounted for by the zero income figured into my base. Unless they are going to ding everyone who has retirement income from an IRA, 401(K), etc. they should not ding me because I have retirement income from my STRS plan.

You might be totally screwed as is my case.

I worked for the Feds for 10 years and paid in to their pension system.

I quit and went to work for the State and all those years working for the Feds do not count except for abt. one year of all the time I worked as a temp and was paying into Social Security.

I was a kid when I went to work for them and had no idea which end was up. As for those 10 years I worked for the Feds, it might as well not have happened at at!

Shameful!

Many, many never gave SS eligibility a thought in 30, 40 years - and then find out how screwed they are!

Not certain abt that tho.

That said, I know of a retired hairdresser that never paid a cent into SS and she is collecting her late husband's (who she divorced a # of years ago) SS and also SSI!

is a pittance for so many older people out of the workforce, it is another national shame.

And the R's would like nothing better than to take this away, too.

No one gives a damn about us!

We get nothing because many of us got sick too early.

Disgraceful & shameful I agree!

can claim 1/2 the SS amount a spouse they were married to for at least 10 years is entitled to, without affecting the spouse 's entitlement. This has been the law for several decades.

can claim it all.

Half of SS is better than none? Because you were a housewife, raised a family, made a home for the working half?

That was the plan?

to mean that the worker spouse can claim his/her share and the spousal half share also -- that's not correct. Otherwise I don't know what you might mean.

The original plan was that only the worker got SS. The thinking being, I guess, in a era when one person could support a family, that one SS could help support 2 retirees. It was only later, in the progressive 60's/70's (don't remember exactly), that a non-working spouse started getting a half share. This was without any or much increase in the withholding, as I fuzzily recall.

is eligible for up to half the working spouse's SS monthly payment.

They contributed as a family together for 30, 40 years and the non-working spouse is eligible for a half-portion.

You see nothing wrong with this, even consider it generous?

Do you think the spouse who worked all those years is comforted to know that if he/she falls over dead, the survivor is going to get half of what was paid in for?

2) Now that you've switched the example to "SURVIVING spouse ", you're still wrong. A "SURVIVING spouse" steps up to get the whole amount the now deceased spouse used to get, in lieu of the half he or she originally got.

Might I suggest you go to the Social Security Administration website and read their explanatory material. Everyone with a financial interest in the SS system should have at least a rudimentary understanding of it. Which you clearly do not.

I thought that this was a big penalty on stay-at-home spouses. Funny what we can think is true.

I don't know where I got that idea from.

By the way, I have a "My Social Security" account - which I DO check periodically.

i'm in California, and get a state pension. i did pay into SS when working, and i'll also begin receiving my SS in january. there IS a windfall offset though, so my SS won't be as much as someone without a pension.

If you don't pay into SS, you don't get anything out.

(i revised my post). i did pay in, but there is an offset.

60% so that means your SS will only be 40% of what you paid into. At least that's what my husband received. I can't believe it would be different in CA than it is in CT.

in favor of their established pension system. They do not pay into Social Security and do not receive benefits. Here's a brief explanation of why:

can do this. There are a total of 15 states who have the same problem. I know the CA teachers' are fighting this very hard to get the law changed. My husband worked in industry for 28 years and paid into SS before he went into education. When he retired, he did get some of his SS back, but only 40% of what he should have received. You can Google "Why Aren't All Teachers Covered by SS?" I should have stayed in Michigan where I could have paid into both my pension and SS. Maybe I should have run for Congress and my retirement would have been my salary for life. Ha ha

I work for the state of North Carolina, and we pay into SS as well as having our own state retirement system. When I retire in a few years, I’ll draw my state retirement pension AND social security- it’s not an either/or thing! Are new, first-year teachers in CT still exempt from SS? I know at one time here in NC university professors could choose whether to pay into SS or into another system, but new hires don’t have that choice now.

which predates SS then you don't pay into SS and don't get SS benefits. You do pay into the government retirement system and get that pension. I worked in Ohio where I only paid into them and now work in NC where I pay into both and will get both.

I also live in CT. The state has a huge deficit of 210 million and 40% of state spending is for retired state workers. They are cutting back on all state programs. If you know anyone on food stamps the state cut $2.00 a month off of them. The state can't sustain paying all the pensions. I know they changed my son's pension, he is pissed.

I don't think the "tax reform" takes effect until February so maybe you check will change. SS is federal, when I'm 62 I will be taking my husband's SS until I am 65 then taking my SS.

You need to check out your deceased husband's SS, I think you do get it.

didn't put a dime into the teachers' pension fund. It was the teachers and the town where they were employed that each put in their 6% into the fund, sort of like SS. Unfortunately, the teachers' fund is going broke because some of the CT governors (and you probably know which ones) borrowed the fund's money and never paid it back. They keep raising taxes from the people to try to cover the bills of the state. I never realized what an expensive state CT is to live until I moved to FL.

I'm doing my best to stay in this state because it is a beautiful and state but more importantly my grandchildren live here. The only people who seem to be ok are the very wealthy and the very poor. The middle class is just getting swept away.

When I moved to CT Rowlen was Governor and I think he went to jail. I know he got arrested for hitting his wife.
however Malloy is a disaster. FLA looks good, I wish my heart would follow...sigh

No, I don't get a dime of his SS. All I received from SS was $255 upon his death. The retired CT state workers get their pensions, their SS, and are reimbursed for their Medicare. Their supplement healthcare was changed in 2017, but still quite good. The state definitely has a huge deficit problem. That's why so many people want to leave the state. I lived in northeast CT so I don't know that much about the people who live in the Greenwich, Westport, or Darien area of the state. The more affluent areas of the state.

if you have an automatic deduction from your pension that might be the cause, but you should have been notified,

for my Medicare. It is deducted from a SS check. I have to pay my own Medicare monthly so I have set up a draft thru my checking account.

They made certain that I did not have to suffer the consequences of no COLA via SSDI. They gave back my part B premium(s) and tacked it on to my paltry pension so I have realized a GAIN for this next year!

UNION YES.

Can't wait!

Me and husband combined = $47.00 less than last month. Mine was only $6. less. Hubster took the bigger hit.

..... .....

looks like that was an increase in my Kaiser pmt. (Haven't tapped into Medicare yet)

But we'll have to log in to see the deductions. He'll be on Medicare shortly so his could jump back up in a month. Not that my supplemental through the state is cheap. But I think it's less than his monthly BCBS regular insurance. It was still a surprise. Good luck to us all.

I'm not even sure that the IRS has issued guidance and new tax tables yet for employers to use, much less have them out and about early enough for accounting wonks to implement them in direct deposits.

Compare deductions from your pension, whether things you've elected like health insurance or things imposed on you like state/federal taxes.

It's possible the state removed your personal exemption but didn't get the new tax tables. If so, that's on the state.

My first brush with the new IRS regs will be in January. I doubt they deposited my next paycheck this early.

will start in February

I am a payroll manager and the new tables will be available Feb 1 (I'm pretty sure - off this week).

for this scam...she negotiates like a small child, not a strong senator.

Did you receive and explanation that said this or are you assuming?

The IRS has not issued any new guidance or withholding tables yet so nobodies check should see any changes yet.

I'm getting, by far, the biggest hourly pay raise in the 15 years I've been employed there. The tax cut? I'll know soon.

My wife received a good hourly pay raise too. Not as good as the one I received but pretty good. The tax cut? Same as I. She'll know soon.

Neither of us has seen the pay raises yet. Mine will go into effect around mid-January. Hers will start around March.

Bonus. I got a free smoked Turkey and a Smithfield ham. That's it. My wife, nothing.

The new withholding tables are not even available yet, so the new tax bill is not what altered your pension. State or city taxes may have changed - or the cost of health insurance, if it is deducted from your check.

But please don't start more panic than is warranted about the new tax bill. It is bad enough without misleading information about its impact!

As for not receiving SS from your deceased husband - you should be receiving those, unless there is a reason unrelated to yoru state pension (you are not yet age 60, for example, or you remarried before age 60). SS benefits are controlled by the federal government, not the state. Your survivor benefits will be reduced by the windfall elimination provision, but Connecticut cannot prohibit you from getting what the Federal Government owes you, nor does a state retirement system eliminate survivor benefits.

As the IRS is just now figuring it out which will take a month or so.

Which means there might be a mistake somewhere or some other cost went up.

Please look into it closely.

Have a happy new year.