Woman, 84, forced out of retirement to work in Dollar Tree after Social Security payments cut by $300k through loophole

An 84-year-old woman was compelled to return to work due to two government regulations concerning Social Security benefits.

The former retiree now works a part-time shift at Dollar Tree simply to put food on the table after missing out on an incredible $300,000 in benefits.

84 years old Evelyn Paternostro, a native of Louisiana, worked as a principal and teacher for many years.

However, Paternostro now finds it difficult to make ends meet after years of devoted public work.

The elderly woman was driven out of retirement due to a Social Security rule, and she now works part-time as a cashier at Dollar Tree.

“I am frequently asked at the store if I am doing this for pleasure. She asked CBS, “Why aren’t you retired?” “Because I need to eat.”

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Paternostro discovered that two federal policies prevented her from receiving her husband’s Social Security benefits after his death.

Millions of recipients who also get a public pension for labor for which they did not pay Social Security taxes had their benefits reduced or eliminated by the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset.

WEP and GPO

Federal laws that have been in effect for almost 40 years include the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision.

Provision for Windfall Elimination:

• Impacts pension recipients who also work another job covered by Social Security
• The Social Security benefit is usually reduced by around 50%, but it cannot be reduced to zero

Offset for Government Pensions:

• Impacts pension recipients who also qualify for spousal Social Security benefits
• Reduces two-thirds of the PSRS benefit, typically eliminating the entire spousal Social Security benefit

Nearly 3 million Americans are impacted by the two provisions, but public servants such as teachers, police officers, firefighters, and employees of municipal governments are most affected.

“I was really blindsided,” Paternostro remarked. “I was aware that I would be retiring as a teacher. The Louisiana Teachers Retirement System was supposed to include me. Additionally, I never gave my husband’s income or what it would mean to me much thought.

The two programs were created in the 1980s “so that there was no way you could ‘double dip’ into both a federal pension and Social Security,” per Jill Schlesinger, CBS News business analyst.

The Windfall Elimination Provision, or WEP, impacts those who work in jobs covered by Social Security but also receive a pension from another job they don’t pay Social Security taxes.

The WEP can decrease their Social Security benefits by up to half the value of their pension.

The Government Pension Offset, or GPO, impacts Americans like Paternostro who earn a pension from work not covered by Social Security and qualify for spousal Social Security benefits.

In this case, the impacted party may see their survivor benefits significantly reduced or even eliminated entirely.

The GPO primarily affects women, with 83% of people impacted by the provision being female, per data from theCongressional Research Service.

“When you see the numbers of the GPO elevated, it’s because many of those people were probably teachers and married to somebody who worked in a Social Security job,” said Joslyn DeLancey, vice president of the Connecticut Education Association.

“They’re not going to get that spousal Social Security It’s such a messy and nuanced thing.”

Paternostro estimated that she would have received $2,500 monthly in spousal Social Security benefits, totaling around $300,000 over the last 10 years.

“That’s a lot of money,” she said. “That’s more money than I can imagine.

“In essence, this money has been stolen from all of us for all these years. It’s not fair.”

REFORM IN PROGRESS

First proposed in the early 2000s, the Social Security Fairness Act aims to repeal the WEP and GPO.

Representatives opposed to the two provisions have fought for years for them to be removed.

For more than 40 years, millions of Americans police officers, teachers, firefighters, and other local and state public servants have been stripped of their Social Security benefits as an unjust penalty for devoting much of their careers to serving their communities and fellow Americans,” said Abigail Spanberger and Garret Graves, two house representatives against the laws.

After a lengthy battle,Congresspassed the Social Security Fairness Act on December 21, 2024.

To become law, the bill must now be signed byPresident Biden.

While many public servants have long hoped for the repeal of the WEP and GPO, other Americans believe they should be kept in place, especially considering the projection that Social Security will run out of funds in 2035.

“A lot of the critics say this is gonna cost a lot of money, almost $200 billion dollars over the next 10 years,” explained Schlesinger.

“Critics say there is a reason why we force people to pay into the Social Security system. These are two separate systems. If we need to fix Social Security, let’s fix it. Let’s not just do a repeal which is essentially a Band-Aid.”

Similar to Paternostro, other Americans have experienced frustrations with the Social Security system.

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