Q: In a recent column, you wrote that Social Security retirement benefits are never reduced by any other pension. Well, you should know that because I am a teacher in Texas, my Social Security retirement benefit will be reduced because of my teacher's pension. Haven't you ever heard of the dumbest Social Security law on the books -- the government pension offset?

A: Oh, I certainly hear about it -- about a dozen times a week in e-mails from folks like you.

And I guess it's time for me to dust off my annual column that explains the government pension offsets -- and also explains why I think they are some of the smartest Social Security laws on the books.

By the way, in that recent column you mentioned, I should have written that Social Security retirement benefits are never reduced by any other pension, except if you collect a pension from a job that was not covered by Social Security.

Social Security taxes are withheld from the paychecks of most U.S. workers. But about 10 percent of workers are not covered by Social Security. Most of these employees are state or local government workers who are covered by their own pension plan, not Social Security -- like teachers in Texas, California, and a few other states. Or they are older federal employees who are covered by the Civil Service Retirement System. (Federal employees hired after 1983 pay into Social Security.)

If you will get a pension from a job where your employer does not withhold Social Security taxes, but you have paid enough of those taxes in other jobs to qualify for a Social Security retirement benefit, that benefit probably will be reduced because of your government pension. The law requiring this reduction is called the Windfall Elimination Provision.

The same government pension will offset, and usually eliminate, any Social Security benefits you might be due on a spouse's Social Security record. The law requiring this is called the Government Pension Offset. Continued...