(a) When applicable. Except as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, we will modify the formula prescribed in § 404.212 and in appendix II of this subpart in the following situations:
(1) You become eligible for old-age insurance benefits after 1985; or
(2) You become eligible for disability insurance benefits after 1985; and
(3) For the same months after 1985 that you are entitled to old-age or disability benefits, you are also entitled to a monthly pension(s) for which you first became eligible after 1985 based in whole or part on your earnings in employment which was not covered under Social Security. We consider you to first become eligible for a monthly pension in the first month for which you met all requirements for the pension except that you were working or had not yet applied. In determining whether you are eligible for a pension before 1986, we consider all applicable service used by the pension-paying agency. (Noncovered employment includes employment outside the United States which is not covered under the United States Social Security system. Pensions from noncovered employment outside the United States include both pensions from social insurance systems that base benefits on earnings but not on residence or citizenship, and those from private employers. However, for benefits payable for months prior to January 1995, we will not modify the computation of a totalization benefit (see §§ 404.1908 and 404.1918) as a result of your entitlement to another pension based on employment covered by a totalization agreement. Beginning January 1995, we will not modify the computation of a totalization benefit in any case (see § 404.213(e)(8)).
(b) Amount of your monthly pension that we use. For purposes of computing your primary insurance amount, we consider the amount of your monthly pension(s) (or the amount prorated on a monthly basis) which is attributable to your noncovered work after 1956 that you are entitled to for the first month in which you are concurrently entitled to Social Security benefits. For applications filed before December 1988, we will use the month of earliest concurrent eligibility. In determining the amount of your monthly pension we will use, we will consider the following:
(1) If your pension is not paid on a monthly basis or is paid in a lump-sum, we will allocate it proportionately as if it were paid monthly. We will allocate this the same way we allocate lump-sum payments for a spouse or surviving spouse whose benefits are reduced because of entitlement to a Government pension. (See § 404.408a.)
(2) If your monthly pension is reduced to provide a survivor's benefit, we will use the unreduced amount.
(3) If the monthly pension amount which we will use in computing your primary insurance amount is not a multiple of $0.10, we will round it to the next lower multiple of $0.10.
(c) How we compute your primary insurance amount. When you become entitled to old-age or disability insurance benefits and to a monthly pension, we will compute your primary insurance amount under the average-indexed-monthly-earnings method (§ 404.212) as modified by paragraph (c) (1) and (2) of this section. Where applicable, we will also consider the 1977 simplified old-start method (§ 404.241) as modified by § 404.243 and a special minimum primary insurance amount as explained in §§ 404.260 and 404.261. We will use the highest result from these three methods as your primary insurance amount. We compute under the average-indexed-monthly-earnings method, and use the higher primary insurance amount resulting from the application of paragraphs (c) (1) and (2) of this section, as follows:
(1) The formula in appendix II, except that instead of the first percentage figure (i.e., 90 percent), we use -
(i) 80 percent if you initially become eligible for old-age or disability insurance benefits in 1986;
(ii) 70 percent for initial eligibility in 1987;
(iii) 60 percent for initial eligibility in 1988;
(iv) 50 percent for initial eligibility in 1989;
(v) 40 percent for initial eligibility in 1990 and later years, or
(2) The formula in appendix II minus one-half the portion of your monthly pension which is due to noncovered work after 1956 and for which you were entitled in the first month you were entitled to both Social Security benefits and the monthly pension. If the monthly pension amount is not a multiple of $0.10, we will round to the next lower multiple of $0.10. To determine the portion of your pension which is due to noncovered work after 1956, we consider the total number of years of work used to compute your pension and the percentage of those years which are after 1956, and in which your employment was not covered. We take that percentage of your total pension as the amount which is due to your noncovered work after 1956.
(d) Alternate computation.
(1) If you have more than 20 but less than 30 years of coverage as defined in the column headed “Alternate Computation Under § 404.213(d)” in appendix IV of this subpart, we will compute your primary insurance amount using the applicable percentage given below instead of the first percentage in appendix II of this subpart if the applicable percentage below is larger than the percentage specified in paragraph (c) of this section:
(i) For benefits payable for months before January 1989 -
| Years of coverage | Percent |
|---|---|
| 29 | 80 |
| 28 | 70 |
| 27 | 60 |
| 26 | 50 |
(ii) For benefits payable for months after December 1988 -
| Years of coverage | Percent |
|---|---|
| 29 | 85 |
| 28 | 80 |
| 27 | 75 |
| 26 | 70 |
| 25 | 65 |
| 24 | 60 |
| 23 | 55 |
| 22 | 50 |
| 21 | 45 |
(2) If you later earn additional year(s) of coverage, we will recompute your primary insurance amount, effective with January of the following year.
(e) Exceptions. The computations in paragraph (c) of this section do not apply in the following situations:
(1) Payments made under the Railroad Retirement Act are not considered to be a pension from noncovered employment for the purposes of this section. See subpart O of this part for a discussion of railroad retirement benefits.
(2) You were entitled before 1986 to disability insurance benefits in any of the 12 months before you reach age 62 or again become disabled. (See § 404.251 for the appropriate computation.)
(3) You were a Federal employee performing service on January 1, 1984 to which Social Security coverage was extended on that date solely by reason of the amendments made by section 101 of the Social Security Amendments of 1983.
(4) You were an employee of a nonprofit organization who was exempt from Social Security coverage on December 31, 1983 unless you were previously covered under a waiver certificate which was terminated prior to that date.
(5) You have 30 years of coverage as defined in the column headed “Alternate Computation Under § 404.213(d)” in appendix IV of this subpart.
(6) Your survivors are entitled to benefits on your record of earnings. (After your death, we will recompute the primary insurance amount to nullify the effect of any monthly pension, based in whole or in part on noncovered employment, to which you had been entitled.)
(7) For benefits payable for months after December 1994, payments by the social security system of a foreign country which are based on a totalization agreement between the United States and that country are not considered to be a pension from noncovered employment for purposes of this section. See subpart T of this part for a discussion of totalization agreements.
(8) For benefits payable for months after December 1994, the computations in paragraph (c) do not apply in the case of an individual whose entitlement to U.S. social security benefits results from a totalization agreement between the United States and a foreign country.
(9) For benefits payable for months after December 1994, you are eligible after 1985 for monthly periodic benefits based wholly on service as a member of a uniformed service, including inactive duty training.
(f) Entitlement to a totalization benefit and a pension based on noncovered employment. If, before January 1995, you are entitled to a totalization benefit and to a pension based on noncovered employment that is not covered by a totalization agreement, we count your coverage from a foreign country with which the United States (U.S.) has a totalization agreement and your U.S. coverage to determine if you meet the requirements for the modified computation in paragraph (d) of this section or the exception in paragraph (e)(5) of this section.
(1) Where the amount of your totalization benefit will be determined using a computation method that does not consider foreign earnings (see § 404.1918), we will find your total years of coverage by adding your -
(i) Years of coverage from the agreement country (quarters of coverage credited under § 404.1908 divided by four) and
(ii) Years of U.S. coverage as defined for the purpose of computing the special minimum primary insurance amount under § 404.261.
(2) Where the amount of your totalization benefit will be determined using a computation method that does consider foreign earnings, we will credit your foreign earnings to your U.S. earnings record and then find your total years of coverage using the method described in § 404.261.
[52 FR 47916, Dec. 17, 1987, as amended at 55 FR 21382, May 24, 1990; 57 FR 22429, May 28, 1992; 60 FR 17444, Apr. 6, 1995; 60 FR 56513, Nov. 9, 1995]