A FIREFIGHTER was at risk of losing $1,300 a month from his Social Security payments due to a previous job.
Chris Ferguson worked in the private sector for 18 years before following his dream to become a firefighter.
2
He has been protecting and saving citizens in the fire service for 13 years but is now unable to retire early due to existing federal policies.
“I got on at 43, so I do have time paying into Social Security before coming on this job,” Chris told CBS News.
“I’m getting penalized because I have a public pension and it’s no different if I would’ve had a 401k working a private sector,” he added.
“I think I would’ve lost like $1,300 a month indefinitely till I passed away.”
read more on social security
Federal policies, like the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) have a knock-on effect on social security benefits if a person worked in the private sector before taking a public sector job that receives a pension.
These policies also impact teachers, police, postal workers and other public sector roles.
These rules can chop earned benefit amounts by more than half, and have provoked fury over the years from affected workers.
Chris said that many of his colleagues work two jobs to “make ends meet”.
He said that they should not suffer for being a public servant.
The Social Security Fairness Act (SSFA) repeals provisions that reduce benefits for those who receive other benefits like pensions.
Congress repealed the WEP and GPO with the SSFA last weekend.
For Chris, this means he should receive both his pension and social security benefits.
Since the 1980s, some public sector workers have seen their earned Social Security benefit amounts cut sharply due to the confusing WEP rule.
The Senate is expected to hold a vote on the Social Security Fairness Act any day now, before it heads to President Trump.
2
