Social Security Archives - The Financial Wire

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Scammers now text Social Security recipients fake “account verification” links — SSA never sends texts asking you to verify, log in, or reset benefits

David Keller8 hours ago3 hours ago012 mins

Social Security recipients across the country are receiving text messages that appear to come from the federal government, urging them to click a link and “verify” their accounts. The messages look official, sometimes referencing benefit amounts or account problems, and they ask for sensitive details like Social Security numbers and dates of birth. But the…

The 2026 SSDI work limit just climbed to $1,690 a month — earn more than that and Social Security can deny your disability claim before reviewing your medical record

Warren Cohen1 day ago1 day ago07 mins

Workers filing for Social Security Disability Insurance in 2026 face a higher earnings ceiling that doubles as a tripwire: anyone earning more than $1,690 a month can be turned away at the door, with no medical evidence ever reviewed. The Social Security Administration raised the Substantial Gainful Activity threshold for non-blind disabled individuals to that…

A non-working spouse can claim 50% of the higher earner’s Social Security benefit at full retirement age — adding about $1,251 a month for single-career couples

David Keller1 day ago1 day ago09 mins

Couples who relied on a single income during their working years stand to gain a meaningful bump in retirement cash flow through a Social Security rule that many households overlook. A non-working spouse can collect up to half of the higher earner’s Social Security benefit at full retirement age, a provision that, based on current…

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The Social Security earnings test claws back $1 for every $2 of wages above $23,400 for early claimers — and the docked dollars return as larger checks once the worker reaches 67

Warren Cohen2 days ago2 days ago017 mins

Linda, a 63-year-old administrative coordinator in Ohio earning $60,000 a year, opened her bank statement last January and found three months of Social Security checks missing. She had claimed benefits at 62, expecting $1,600 a month to supplement her paycheck. Instead, the Social Security Administration withheld $18,300 over the course of the year. She was…

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The 2027 maximum Social Security benefit will climb about 4% to roughly $5,455 a month at age 70 — but only workers who hit the max taxable wage base for 35 years and delayed until 70 will ever get it

David Keller3 days ago3 days ago014 mins

Out of the roughly 67 million Americans collecting Social Security, only a sliver of a sliver will ever see a monthly deposit anywhere close to $5,455. Yet that is the projected maximum monthly benefit for a worker turning 70 in 2027, up about 4 percent from the current ceiling of $5,181 at age 70 in…

US Congress and Capitol in Washington DC with cash and social security card to illustrate budget problems as a result of coronavirus

Senate Democrats just filed a bill to add $200 a month for six months to every Social Security, SSI, and veterans benefit check — $1,200 per person total

Warren Cohen4 days ago4 days ago011 mins

Tens of millions of Americans who depend on Social Security, SSI, or veterans benefits could receive an extra $200 per month for six months under a bill filed by Senate Democrats, a temporary supplement that would total $1,200 per person if enacted. The proposal has not passed, no payments have been scheduled, and the bill…

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The 2026 maximum Social Security benefit is $5,251 a month — but only workers who hit the max taxable wage for 35 years and delayed until 70 will ever see it

Warren Cohen5 days ago5 days ago013 mins

Somewhere in the United States, a 70-year-old who just filed for Social Security will receive a deposit of $5,251 this month. That person earned at or above the taxable wage cap for 35 straight years, never filed early, and waited until the last possible moment to claim. Almost no one else will see a number…

Yoshi Canopus - CC BY-SA 4.0/Wiki Commons

The SSA now withholds 100% of monthly benefits to collect any new overpayment issued after March 27 — asking for a 10% rate or waiver within 30 days pauses collection

Warren Cohen5 days ago6 days ago09 mins

If the Social Security Administration flags you for an overpayment today, the agency will take your entire monthly check until the debt is paid off. Not 10 percent. Not a negotiated portion. Every dollar. That has been the reality since March 27, 2025, when SSA restored 100 percent withholding as the default recovery method for…

Senate Democrats just filed a bill to add $200 a month for six months to every Social Security, SSI, and veterans benefit check — $1,200 per person total

David Keller1 week ago1 week ago011 mins

A bill that would add $200 a month to every Social Security, SSI, and veterans benefit check for six months has been sitting in a Senate committee since last October, and as of early June 2026, not a single dollar has gone out the door. The Social Security Emergency Inflation Relief Act (S.3078), introduced by…

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A bipartisan Senate bill would lock veterans’ disability and survivor benefits to the 2027 Social Security COLA — forecast at 3.9%, roughly $81 more a month

David Keller1 week ago1 week ago011 mins

For the past several years, Congress has made veterans wait. Each fall, as Social Security recipients learn their automatic cost-of-living adjustment, roughly 5.3 million veterans drawing disability compensation and hundreds of thousands of surviving military families have had to hope that lawmakers would pass a separate bill granting them the same inflation protection. Some years,…

Category: Social Security

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