The Windfall Elimination Provision adjusts your Social Security retirement or disability benefit downward if you also receive a pension from a job where you did not pay Social Security taxes. Common examples: certain state or municipal government jobs, some federal positions hired before 1984, and foreign employment.
WEP can reduce a retirement benefit by up to roughly $580 per month in 2026 (the maximum reduction is half the non-covered pension or about $580, whichever is less). Workers with 30+ years of "substantial earnings" under Social Security are exempt.
WEP does not affect spousal or survivor benefits, those are addressed by the separate Government Pension Offset (GPO). Reform legislation (the Social Security Fairness Act) eliminated WEP and GPO for benefits payable after December 2023; the change was retroactive and triggered one-time make-up payments in 2024-2025 for affected retirees.