Your Colorado PERA benefit is never reduced because of other retirement income you may have. That’s not necessarily the case with a benefit from Social Security. Due to your PERA membership, your Social Security benefit in retirement could be reduced in the following ways: 

• If you’ll receive a spousal or widow(er) benefit, you may be subject to the Government Pension Offset (GPO). The Social Security benefit could be reduced by two-thirds of your PERA benefit and could even be completely eliminated. 
• If you’ll receive an earned benefit from employment not covered by PERA, you may be subject to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Social Security benefit could be reduced. 

To better understand how your Social Security benefit could be reduced, visit www.ssa.gov/planners/calculators and use the online WEP/GPO calculators. The Social Security Administration can answer questions about your specific situation and can be reached at 1-800-772-1213.

The PERA and Social Security fact sheet is available on www.copera.org.