The House passed the Social Security Fairness Act, which means that millions of people may now be able to get higher Social Security benefits. It was finally done away with: the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO).
The House passed the bill by a vote of 325 to 75. These two rules used to stop Americans who also got pensions and their spouses from getting their full monthly Social Security benefits.
The House passed the Social Security Fairness Act, which means that those American workers can now get full Social Security benefits when they retire and apply for the program.
If the Senate agrees with the bill and President Joe Biden signs it into law, it will affect all retirement benefits processed by the SSA starting in December 2023.
The WEP helps people who have less than 30 years of significant earnings from jobs that are covered by Social Security and also get a pension that is not covered by Social Security.
The government has announced a total change in Social Security benefits
At the same time, the GPO cuts by almost two-thirds the Social Security benefits of spouses of people who get a non-covered pension. Both laws had an impact on about 3 million former public employees, such as teachers, police officers, firefighters, and their wives.
Alex Beene, a teacher of financial literacy at the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek that WEP and GPO can lower or even eliminate Social Security benefits for people who are retired from the Civil Service Retirement System and people who work for state and local governments, as well as their spouses, widows, and widowers.
Some members were against the Social Security Fairness Act because they thought it would speed up the Social Security fund’s impending bankruptcy.
People who study the economy say that Social Security will run out of money to pay full benefits as early as 2035.
On Tuesday, Republican Representative Jodey Arrington of Texas said that the Social Security trust fund will run out of money faster. We should be in charge of this. It is important to think about the retirees and people who will retire in every state.
The Social Security Fairness Act also says that it will cost $196 billion over the next ten years. Even though it is likely that the Social Security Fairness Act will pass, these costs could cause problems in the Senate.
The House’s approval of this bill is a good sign that these beneficiaries will eventually be able to get all the benefits they are entitled to, but Beene said that this might not be the end.
The next and most important step will be for the Senate to give the bill top priority. If the bill is given top priority, the last step should be very simple since it has so much support now.
Millions of Americans believe their Social Security benefits won’t be enough in the long run
A new study from Bank rate shows that most Americans are worried about what will happen to Social Security when its retirement trust fund goes beyond the date when it is expected to run out in 2033.
For example, 71% of retired people and 73% of adults who are not retired are worried that they will not get their benefits if the trust fund runs out. A total of 2,492 people filled out the survey in October. That these worries are important for older Americans who have not retired yet is shown by the results.
This includes 81% of working Baby Boomers and 82% of working Gen Xers who are afraid they might not get their retirement benefits if the trust fund runs out.
However, most of the Gen Z and Millennial respondents (69% and 62%) agree with this worry. Trust funds add to the monthly benefits that Social Security gives to more than 72.5 million people, including those who get Supplemental Security Income.
