Alaska teacher & social security (55, pension, state, coverage)

[lv2hoop]

I can probably get this question answered by someone I work with, but maybe someone on this forum can help too.

I am in the Alaska Teacher's Retirement system and will eventually retire at around the age of 50-55 which a defined benefit pension with health care benefits. We don't pay in to social security like a lot of state pension systems. So my question is whether I will get a social security check when I am eligible to draw those benefits. I went online to ssa.gov and it says that I have 32 credits and need to attain 40 in order to qualify.

But I thought I remember talking to retirees up here who have said that if you draw a state pension you don't get social security. Anyone know if this is a myth or fact?

Also, does anyone know how much longer I would need to work in a job that paid into SS in order to jump up from 32 to 40 credits. Thanks!

[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by lv2hoop

But I thought I remember talking to retirees up here who have said that if you draw a state pension you don't get social security. Anyone know if this is a myth or fact?

It's a myth, but your state pension will have an impact on your Social Security benefit. Since you will be drawing a public pension based on work on which Social Security taxes were not paid, Social Security will use a different formula when computing your benefits which will have the effect of reducing the amount that you will receive. It's called the Windfall Elimination Provision and you can read how it impacts you here:

http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf

Originally Posted by lv2hoop

Also, does anyone know how much longer I would need to work in a job that paid into SS in order to jump up from 32 to 40 credits. Thanks!

You receive one quarter for every $1,220* you earn this year, but you can only earn 4 quarters of credit each calendar year. Consequently, you'll need to perform Social Security-covered work in at least two separate calendar years in order to receive the eight quarters of coverage you'll need to be eligible for Social Security benefits.

*The dollar amount per credit can be adjusted each year based on rises in inflation.