I’m new to a government job and therefore new to pensions. I start contributing to the pension system in May. A friend told me that once that happens I won’t be paying toward social security any longer. Is that true? Can I get some insight here?
Thanks!
Not an expert but this article had some nice basic explanations. It looks like most government employees are covered by Social Security, but some – mostly those working for public schools – are not. The SSA has a related pub here.
I did not pay SS taxes when I was a TA in grad school at a public uni, for example. I also didn’t receive pension benefits, so can tell you from personal experience that whether or not you get pension benefits is not fully tied to whether or not you pay SS taxes.
It all depends. I pay into a pension and into social security. Some public schools pay in and some done (it even varies within my state). It’s worth finding out because if you work very long in a job that claims exemption from social security because of a pension it will limit how much you get of the benefits you earn even from other jobs. It’s called the Windfall Elimination Provision and it really stinks: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf
@rural @diapasoun
Turns out that I will be contributing to both. Thanks for the insight and articles.