Why is there GPO (Government Pension Offset) in Social Security?
If you are (or were) married and you have worked in a domestic (US-based) government job where your earnings are not subject to Social Security taxation, you probably are familiar with the Government Pension Offset, or GPO. (You may also be interested in WEP – Windfall Elimination Provision – as well, but that’s another subject.) Have you ever learned just why GPO is a factor in Social Security calculations for many folks? In another article we reviewed why there is a WEP, but there are differences between WEP and GPO, so we’ll cover those first.