Full question: I’m a retired State of California employee and drawing a good pension. As a CalPERS member, I didn’t contribute to SS during my 28+ years working for the government agency in CA. I am 61 now and short one (1) quarter of qualifying for SS. (39qtrs) Is there a way to get a good estimate of what my monthly SS amount would be if I were to qualify for SS and filing for benefits at age 62 considering the WEP. I’ve been thinking about returning to work part time to earn enough to reach the 40 quarters to qualify for SS but don’t know if it’s worth it.

Hi there,

It is difficult to say exactly what your Social Security benefit would be until you have those 40 quarters.

For 2024, you earn the 1 credit if you earned $1,730. With the 40 quarters, all your earnings would be used to calculate your primary insurance amount, PIA, the amount you would collect at your full retirement age, FRA, of 67.

The WEP reduction would then be applied to your PIA and the reduction for collecting early at 62.

It would be very useful for you to contact an RSSA to help you with these calculations.

All the best,
Martha

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