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No. You can get both a military pension and Social Security retirement, survivor or family benefits. The same is true for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). The amount of your military retirement pay doesn’t affect how much you receive from Social Security, and vice versa.
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That may not be the case if you get Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a federal safety-net benefit for low-income people who are disabled, blind or age 65 or older. SSI is not a traditional Social Security benefit, but the program is managed by the Social Security Administration (SSA).
Among other eligibility criteria, you can’t collect SSI if your overall income exceeds a limit set annually by the SSA. Pension income counts toward that cap, so if your military pension, by itself or in addition to other income, puts you over the cap, you won’t qualify for SSI.
There is also an income limit for SSDI eligibility, but in that case only earnings from work count; pensions and other benefit income are exempt. Similarly, military pensions do not count toward Social Security’s earnings limit, which can reduce payments for people who claim benefits early and continue to work. Only income from employment or self-employment comes into play.
‘Windfall’ provision does not apply
Unlike some government pensions, military retirement pay is not subject to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). This rule can reduce Social Security benefits for people who have pensions from “noncovered” jobs in which they did not have Social Security taxes withheld from their income but who also draw retirement benefits for other, “covered” employment.
