A game changer for millions of Americans, the Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law on January 5, 2025, marks a significant change for individuals. This law eliminates provisions that prevent certain individuals from receiving Social Security benefits.
By guaranteeing that teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officers, and other public servants or their spouses – including more than 25,000 Mainers – will receive their earned Social Security benefits, the law will impact the retirement security and preparedness of nearly 3 million beneficiaries.
What’s different?
The two provisions that will be repealed are the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO); the WEP was a provision that reduced Social Security benefits for public sector employees and the GPO provision reduced Social Security spousal benefits for individuals who received a government pension as well.
Who will benefit from the new law?
The Social Security Fairness Act will benefit over 3.2 million citizens who were unfairly affected by the WEP and GPO, including many teachers, firefighters, and police officers who receive a pension based on work not covered by Social Security. This legislation will also benefit federal employees and individuals with foreign Social Security benefits. The Social Security Administration (SSA) will have to change some people’s past benefits as well as future payouts. Processing these changes is quite difficult, and SSA research suggests that much of the work will have to be done manually, on a case-by-case basis.
What can you expect? Retroactive and increased benefits
The SSA is required by law to modify Social Security benefits for millions of people. Because the law is retroactive, SSA is required to change both an individual’s past and future benefits. The WEP affects more than two million retired workers, while 750,000 spouses and survivors are affected by the GPO, with many workers seeing their entire spousal or survivor benefit eliminated by the GPO.
According to SSA’s initial estimates, affected beneficiaries would not receive any funds for at least a year. However, SSA subsequently announced that it now anticipates that by the end of March, beneficiaries who are entitled to a retroactive payment under the new law will have that one-time payment deposited into their records. In addition to the retroactive payments, many people will see an increase in their Social Security benefits beginning in April 2025. The increase will vary depending on your situation, of course, but it’s good news for families who have been struggling.
In the meantime, consider verifying the mailing address and/or direct deposit information that SSA has on file for you. This will allow SSA to change your benefits as soon as possible. Usually, nothing more needs to be done at this time.
Watch out for scammers
Unfortunately, there are those out there who may try to take advantage of circumstances involving money, especially when it comes to the retirement of older adults. SSA will never request or order payment for assistance or to initiate, increase, or retroactively pay benefits. If a Federal employee or retiree is eligible for Social Security benefits, they should not click or respond to any offer from any person or organization to increase or accelerate their benefits. Federal employees and retirees are urged to educate themselves about the scam.
A win-win for Social Security beneficiaries
It should be noted that these changes mark a significant victory for Social Security beneficiaries. These changes will provide much-needed relief to millions of Americans living on fixed incomes. People can now look forward to a brighter financial future, more security and stability, and most importantly, peace of mind.