Social Security Announces Expedited Retroactive Payments and Higher Monthly Benefits for Millions – Actions Support the Social Security Fairness Act
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: February 25, 2025
Today, the Social Security Administration announced it is immediately beginning to pay retroactive benefits and will increase monthly benefit payments to people whose benefits have been affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO).
These provisions reduced or eliminated the Social Security benefits for over 3.2 million people who receive a pension based on work that was not covered by Social Security (a “non-covered pension”) because they did not pay Social Security taxes.
The Social Security Fairness Act ends WEP and GPO.
“Social Security’s aggressive schedule to start issuing retroactive payments in February and increase monthly benefit payments beginning in April supports President Trump’s priority to implement the Social Security Fairness Act as quickly as possible,” said Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. “The agency’s original estimate of taking a year or more now will only apply to complex cases that cannot be processed by automation. The American people deserve to get their due benefits as quickly as possible.”
People who will benefit from the new law include some teachers, firefighters, and police officers in many states; federal employees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System; and people whose work had been covered by a foreign social security system.
Many beneficiaries will be due a retroactive payment because the WEP and GPO offset no longer apply as of January 2024. Most people will receive their one-time retroactive payment by the end of March, which will be deposited into their bank account on record with Social Security.
Many of these people will also receive higher monthly benefits, which will first be reflected in the benefit payment they receive in April. Depending on factors such as the type of Social Security benefit received and the amount of the person’s pension, the change in payment amount will vary from person to person.
Anyone whose monthly benefit is adjusted, or who will get a retroactive payment, will receive a mailed notice from Social Security explaining the benefit change or retroactive payment. Most people will receive their retroactive payment two to three weeks before they receive their notice in the mail, because the President understands how important it is to pay people what they are due right away. Social Security is expediting payments using automation and will continue to handle many complex cases that must be done manually, on an individual case-by-case basis. Those complex cases will take additional time to update the beneficiary record and pay the correct benefits.
Social Security urges beneficiaries to wait until April to ask about the status of their retroactive payment, since these payments will process incrementally into March. Since the new monthly payment amount will begin with the April payment, beneficiaries should wait until after receiving their April payment, before contacting Social Security with questions about their monthly benefit amount.
Visit the agency’s Social Security Fairness Act webpage to learn more and stay up to date on its progress. Visitors can subscribe to be alerted when the webpage is updated.
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Judy J.
Am I eligible for social security benefits based on my ex-husband’s earnings and social security payments. We were married for 20 years. I worked for a municipal government for 29 years and when I retired was told I wasn’t eligible for SS benefits based on his SS earnings. Has the Windfall change made me eligible now?
Kevin M.
I think that this is wonderful. I want to thank President Trump for all of his help, I’m so grateful. God bless you President Trump!
Justina
Thanks to President Biden for signing this into law.
ji
I’m 79 years old, is there any chance that I will see any of my money before I die?
Judith B.
Worked for the SCEP program never received unemployment when fired. So long ago
David
I j7st don’t understand why people who never paid into SS are going to get paid benefits from it. I’ve paid into it got over 60 years ! Doesn’t seem fair. And… if the SSA can work this fast to make it happen, what’s wrong with the IRS ??
Justina
Everyone paid into ss for at least 40 quarters, but had benefits cut. And you need to clarify your question about the irs because I’m going to need another glass of wine to make it make sense.
Brian K.
I have a question:
When I did my taxes I noticed that
part of my SS benefit that wasn’t taxed, got added to my income. Why is that?
Thanks for your help
Brian Knors
T.Y.
Thanks for your question and for reading our blog, Brian. You must pay taxes on your benefits if you file a federal tax return as an “individual” and your “combined income” exceeds $25,000. If you file a joint return, you must pay taxes if you and your spouse have “combined income” of more than $34,000. If you are married and file a separate return, you probably will have to pay taxes on your benefits. For more information, visit our Benefits Planner. For tax questions, you will need to contact the IRS. Their toll-free number is 1-800-829-1040, or you can visit http://www.irs.gov. We hope this information is helpful.
Sarah
When can the rest of us see an increase, other than that meager, yearly, COLA?? You know, the ones who paid SS taxes every year we were employed and have nothing else to live on!!
Denise R.
Show me the money!
Suzanne D.
It’s about time. I have been waiting over 30 years for this SSN change. Military personnel were always aloud to receive both SSN and a Federal/Military pension. It’s about time that all FEDERAL retirees can get the same.
bob
That was because military paid into social security.
Laura R.
I retired at 62 due to circumstances beyond my control. Beginning at age 16 I worked a variety of jobs to save for college and continued working throughout college, during summers. I paid into Social Security during my teaching career. Then my situation changed as a single mom and I accepted a teaching job in a state that didn’t pay into the system. The small pension that I earned in that state penalized what I had contributed to the system for over 21 years of substantial earnings.