4-minute Money Ideas

Are You Getting The Social Security You Deserve? By Douglas Goldstein, CFP® The “Greenberg Settlement,” the resolution of a class-action lawsuit brought against the Social Security Administration (SSA), changes the way American olim receive their American Social Security payments. Under the SSA’s Windfall Elimination Provision, if you receive a foreign earnings-based pension, your American benefits are reduced. Until now, claimants of Social Security living in Israel who also received Bituach Leumi old age pension had their payments from Social Security reduced under the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).  This was because Bituach Leumi was considered as an extra pension and counted as a “windfall.” In 2013, Ephraim Greenberg, a U.S. citizen living in Israel, brought a class action to change this situation because Bituach Leumi pensions are not dependent on earnings and therefore don’t fall within the criteria of the WEP. Now you can claim your money back In July 2015, U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer