In January, President Joe Biden signed a law repealing the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset, which limited or eliminated Social Security benefits for civil servants, railroad workers and federal employees whose jobs weren’t covered by Social Security. The new law, called the Social Security Fairness Act, made eligible individuals’ Social Security benefits retroactive from January 2024.
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If you and/or an eligible family member missed out on benefit payments for January 2024 or later because of the old rules, you’ll receive a single retroactive payment to make up the lost benefits.
The first retroactive payments went out in February as direct deposits. The SSA expected to have most of the retroactive payments out by April, and as of May 9, 85% of payments had been processed. However, in complex cases that can’t be handled automatically, payments could take until November to process and send out.
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The SSA doesn’t have a process in place for checking on your payment, but it does offer information about what you can expect as you wait. Some individuals will receive or have received a notice that their WEP or GPO restrictions are being lifted.
Everyone who is eligible for the benefit increase and/or retroactive payment should receive a letter from the SSA alerting you to the changes. This notice might not arrive until after you’ve received your payment, so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on the bank account where you receive direct deposits.
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You can help avoid unnecessary delays by creating or logging in to your my Social Security account, which you can access here to make sure the SSA has your correct mailing address and direct deposit information.
For many, the payment will be worth the wait. The average amount was $6,710 as of March 4, and that’s on top of an average monthly benefit increase of $360, according to the office of Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH).
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Sources
- Social Security Administration (SSA), “Social Security Pays Billions of Dollars in Retroactive Payments“
- SSA, Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) update
- Representative Shontel Brown | – House.gov, “Social Security Fairness Act Signed Into Law: What You Need to Know“
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Social Security Fairness Act Update: When Will You Receive Your Retroactive Payment?
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