The announcement from the Social Security Administration (SSA) in the United States has eased the concerns of millions of people who feared their benefits would be reduced. Since January 2024, SSA has stopped applying two important rules.
These are the ones that used to decrease benefits for those who received pensions for jobs not covered by Social Security. We're talking about the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO).
Important message from SSA: your benefits won't be reduced
SSA will no longer reduce Social Security benefits if a person receives a pension for public or foreign jobs that aren't covered by SSA. This means that those who experienced cuts will now see their situation return to normal and will recover the withheld money.
This change affects state employees, teachers, police officers, firefighters, federal employees, and people who worked abroad under systems not covered by SSA. In total, more than 3 million workers who previously saw their benefits reduced will be able to access their full Social Security pension.
What happens with the withheld money?
SSA has started issuing retroactive payments; at the beginning of 2025, they began depositing the amounts withheld since January 2024. Since April, monthly payments have been adjusted to the new amount without reductions. This helps millions who had doubts about whether their benefits were reduced or not.
SSA will send notifications by postal mail to all affected individuals. In addition, those who have an account in “My Social Security” can check details such as address, direct deposit, and retroactive payments.
What it means to receive a pension for work not covered by SSA
Before this change, if someone received a pension for a job in local government or abroad, SSA applied WEP or GPO to reduce the Social Security benefit. WEP modified the calculation formula, while GPO subtracted up to two-thirds of the government pension from the family benefit. Now both have been eliminated for payments since January of last year.
Another question SSA solves is that if someone hasn't yet reached full retirement age, annual limits apply to what can be earned without affecting the benefit. SSA is speeding up the processes. Simple cases have already received payments and adjustments, and the more complex ones will be closed by November 2025.