Yes, you can collect both a pension and Social Security in Massachusetts, and as of 2025 the combination is worth considerably more than it used to be. The Social Security Fairness Act, signed on January 5, 2025, repealed the two federal rules that used to shrink Social Security checks for people drawing a government pension. The change is retroactive to January 2024, and the Social Security Administration has already issued back payments to most people who were affected.1Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO)
Why the Two Benefits Were Ever in Conflict
Massachusetts public employees generally do not pay into Social Security on their government wages. State workers belong to the Massachusetts State Employees’ Retirement System (MSERS); public school teachers and administrators belong to the Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System (MTRS).2Mass.gov. MSERS Retirement Benefit Guide Because Massachusetts never signed a Section 218 agreement with the federal government, no Social Security payroll tax comes out of a state paycheck.3Hampshire County Retirement System. History of HCRS and Massachusetts Public Employee Retirement Law Employees contribute to the state retirement fund instead.
That setup is why qualifying for Social Security takes separate work. Your years in a Massachusetts classroom or state office build a state pension; they do not build Social Security credits. For most public retirees, the Social Security side of the equation comes from private-sector jobs held before, during, or after their government career.
Qualifying for Each Benefit
You have to meet each system’s rules on its own.
For MSERS, you vest after ten years of full-time service. If you were hired before April 2, 2012, you can retire with 20 years of service at any age, or at 55 with at least ten years of service. If you were hired on or after that date, you generally need to reach age 60 with ten years of service.4Mass.gov. Creditable Service for Retirement (MSRB)
For Social Security, you need 40 credits. In 2026, one credit is earned for every $1,890 in covered wages, with a cap of four credits per year. That works out to a minimum of ten years in jobs where Social Security tax was withheld.5Social Security Administration. Social Security Credits and Benefit Eligibility Neither system gives credit for time spent in the other.
What Changed in 2025
Two federal provisions used to cut benefits for people who earned a pension from non-covered work. The Social Security Fairness Act repealed both.
The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) reduced your own Social Security retirement or disability benefit. It worked by lowering the top factor in the Social Security benefit formula to as little as 40% for anyone also drawing a government pension from non-covered employment.6Social Security Administration. Program Explainer: Windfall Elimination Provision For a retired Massachusetts teacher who had also worked enough covered years to qualify for Social Security, the cut was often several hundred dollars a month.
The Government Pension Offset (GPO) reduced spousal and survivor benefits. If you got a Massachusetts public pension and claimed Social Security on a spouse’s record, your federal benefit was reduced by two-thirds of your pension. A $3,000 state pension triggered a $2,000 offset, which erased most spousal benefits entirely and often eliminated survivor benefits for widows and widowers.7Social Security Administration. Government Pension Offset
Both rules stopped applying after December 2023. Benefits payable from January 2024 forward are calculated without any reduction for a government pension. By July 2025, the SSA had issued over 3.1 million payments totaling $17 billion to affected beneficiaries.1Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO)
If You Never Applied Because of the Old Rules
This is the step that matters most. Many Massachusetts public retirees skipped filing for Social Security because the WEP or GPO looked like it would wipe out the benefit. If that was you, contact the SSA and file an application now.
The Fairness Act did not change retroactivity rules for new applications. Retirement and survivor claims are generally limited to six months of back pay before the month you file. Disability claims may go back twelve months.1Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) Every month you wait is money you cannot recover.
If You Were Already Receiving a Reduced Benefit
You do not need to do anything to get the increase. The SSA recalculated benefits automatically, raised the monthly payment, and issued a one-time lump sum for the amount owed back to January 2024. Payments landed in whatever bank account the SSA had on file, followed by a mailed notice explaining the adjustment.1Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) If you believe you qualify and have not seen a change, contact the SSA directly.
Medicare and IRMAA
Medicare runs on separate rules from Social Security, and the repeal did not change them. State and local government workers hired after March 31, 1986, pay the Medicare portion of FICA (1.45%) even though they do not pay the Social Security portion.8Social Security Administration. Mandatory Medicare Coverage If you were hired after that date and have at least 40 quarters of Medicare-covered work, you qualify for premium-free Part A at 65. Workers hired earlier who never paid Medicare tax may still qualify through a spouse’s record or by paying a premium.
One side effect of a higher Social Security check: higher combined income can trigger Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amounts on Medicare Part B. The standard Part B premium in 2026 is $202.90 per month, but single filers with modified adjusted gross income above $109,000 (or $218,000 for joint filers) pay surcharges reaching $689.90 per month.9Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 2026 Medicare Parts A and B Premiums and Deductibles IRMAA is based on your tax return from two years earlier, so a large retroactive payment could push premiums up on a delay.
Taxes on the Combined Income
At the state level, Massachusetts does not tax Social Security benefits, and public pensions paid by the Commonwealth and its municipalities are also exempt from Massachusetts income tax.10Mass.gov. Differences Between MA and Federal Tax Law for Personal Income For many retirees, neither income stream generates a state tax bill.
Federal tax is a different matter. Your state pension is fully taxable as ordinary income on your federal return. Social Security is partially taxable depending on your combined income (adjusted gross income plus nontaxable interest plus half your Social Security benefit). Single filers with combined income between $25,000 and $34,000 pay federal tax on up to 50% of their benefits; above $34,000, up to 85% is taxable. For joint filers, the thresholds are $32,000 and $44,000. Those thresholds have never been indexed to inflation, so most retirees drawing both a pension and Social Security will fall in the 85% range.
Because WEP and GPO repeal pushes Social Security amounts higher, retirees who used to sit below the taxation thresholds may now sit above them. It is worth running the numbers before tax season.
Planning Points Worth Revisiting
Two things are worth another look now that the old reductions are gone.
First, additional covered earnings still help. The SSA calculates your benefit from your highest 35 years of covered earnings, so years of Massachusetts public service show up as zeros. Private-sector work (including part-time or post-retirement jobs) replaces those zeros and raises your monthly amount.
Second, survivor planning has changed. MSERS and MTRS both offer survivor options that trim your monthly pension in exchange for continued payments to a surviving spouse. With the GPO gone, a surviving spouse who used to get nothing from Social Security may now receive a meaningful survivor benefit, which can affect whether the pension survivor option is worth its cost.
Before any of this, request a current Social Security Statement at ssa.gov. The figure shown now reflects the post-Fairness Act benefit, and comparing it against your MSERS or MTRS projection gives you an accurate combined-income picture for the first time in a long time.