MPSERS Retirement and Social Security: What the WEP and GPO Repeal Means for You

Michigan teachers and school employees get asked this question constantly: "Will your pension reduce your Social Security?" The answer changed permanently in January 2025, and a lot of the information circulating online — including from financial advisors and retirement seminar presenters — is now wrong.

Michigan Teachers Pay Social Security Taxes

MPSERS members pay FICA taxes on their public school wages, just like private-sector workers. This is different from states like Ohio, Texas, and Massachusetts, where public school employees do not participate in Social Security at all.

Because Michigan teachers pay into Social Security through covered public school wages, those earnings count toward Social Security retirement benefits for which they qualify. Your MPSERS pension and your Social Security benefit are two separate income streams from two separate systems.

The WEP and GPO Repeal

The Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), signed into law on January 5, 2025, repealed two provisions that had reduced Social Security benefits for certain public pension recipients:

Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) — reduced Social Security retirement benefits for workers who earned a pension from employment not covered by Social Security. Because MPSERS employment is covered by Social Security (members pay FICA), WEP did not reduce the primary MPSERS Social Security benefit for most members.

Government Pension Offset (GPO) — reduced Social Security spousal and survivor benefits by two-thirds of a government pension received from non-covered employment. Again, because MPSERS is covered employment, GPO did not typically apply to standard MPSERS pensions.

Both provisions were repealed retroactively for benefits payable from January 2024 onward. SSA paid automatic retroactive adjustments to affected beneficiaries starting in February 2025.

Who Was Actually Affected

The repeal matters most for MPSERS members in specific situations:

Members with non-covered service elsewhere. If you worked in another state's public retirement system that did not participate in Social Security (Illinois TRS, Ohio STRS, CalSTRS, etc.) and earned a pension from that non-covered employment, WEP may have reduced your Social Security benefit. That reduction is now eliminated.

Spouses with non-covered pensions. If your spouse earned a pension from non-covered public employment in another state, GPO may have reduced or eliminated a Social Security spousal or survivor benefit based on your spouse's covered earnings. That offset is now gone.

Members who never applied. Some MPSERS members or their spouses never filed for Social Security spousal or survivor benefits because WEP or GPO would have reduced the payout to zero. SSA does not automatically enroll non-applicants — if this describes your situation, you need to file a new claim with SSA. The repeal is retroactive to January 2024, so back payments may be owed.

What Hasn't Changed

For the majority of MPSERS members — those who worked exclusively in Michigan public schools and paid Social Security taxes throughout their careers — the repeal does not change their Social Security benefit. WEP and GPO were not reducing their benefits in the first place.

Your Social Security benefit is still calculated based on your highest 35 years of covered earnings. Years spent in MPSERS employment count toward this calculation because you paid FICA taxes on those wages.

Stale Information Is Everywhere

Many financial advisor websites, retirement workshop presentations, and even some union resources still describe WEP and GPO as active provisions. Content warning that "your government pension will reduce your Social Security" is outdated as of January 2025.

If a financial advisor tells you that your MPSERS pension triggers a WEP reduction to your own Social Security benefit, the information is wrong on two levels: WEP is repealed, and MPSERS is covered employment that was generally not subject to WEP in the first place.

Action Steps

1. Check your Social Security statement at ssa.gov to verify your earnings record shows your MPSERS wages for each year of covered employment
2. If you have non-covered service from another state, verify that SSA adjusted your benefit following the repeal
3. If you or your spouse never applied for spousal or survivor benefits due to GPO, file a new claim with SSA — automatic enrollment does not apply
4. If you're considering the Equated Plan, get an updated Social Security age 62 estimate that reflects the repeal before providing the figure to ORS

The MPSERS Retirement Guide covers the Social Security interaction in detail, including how the Equated Plan uses your age 62 estimate and what to verify with SSA before you file your MPSERS application.

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