Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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Social Security can cut an SSI check by up to a third when the recipient lives in someone else’s household, though food stopped counting toward it in 2024
Moving in with a relative can shrink an SSI check by as much as a third, and since September 30, 2024 the groceries someone else buys no longer count against it. Social Security says a payment may be reduced by up to one-third of the federal benefit rate when a recipient lives in another person’s…
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Social Security’s SSI program paid 7.24 million people an average of $711 a month in January 2026 and was on track to complete at least 2.6 million eligibility reviews in fiscal 2026
Social Security’s Supplemental Security Income program paid 7.24 million people an average of $711 a month in January 2026, according to the agency’s latest SSI annual report. The same report says Social Security was on track to complete at least 2.6 million eligibility reviews, which the agency calls redeterminations, in fiscal year 2026. SSI is…
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The FTC warned on October 26 that scammers posing as well-known charities are claiming people won a sweepstakes, then demanding payment or a Social Security number
The Federal Trade Commission warned on Monday, October 26, that scammers are posing as well-known charities and telling people they won a sweepstakes. The catch comes next. Before any prize is released, the caller or the ad asks for a payment or a Social Security number. The warning came as a consumer alert from the…
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Social Security can suspend retirement and survivors payments for six months after a first failure to report a change, twelve months after a second and twenty-four after a third
People who get Social Security retirement or survivors benefits can have their payments stopped for six months for failing to report a change on time, and the penalty grows to 12 months for a second violation and 24 months for a third. The rule appears in Social Security’s own booklet for retirement and survivors beneficiaries,…
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Social Security beneficiaries who sign up for digital notices by November 18 see the January raise online up to three weeks before the letter arrives
Social Security beneficiaries who sign up for digital notices by November 18, 2026, can see their personal cost-of-living raise online up to three weeks before the mailed letter arrives, the Social Security Administration says. The 2027 increase is 3.6 percent, and it reaches 76 million people on Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The…
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A widow or widower who waits until survivor full retirement age collects a late spouse’s whole Social Security benefit, and children generally get three quarters
For a widow or widower, the size of a Social Security survivor check is set mostly by one choice: the age at which it is claimed. A surviving spouse who starts at the earliest age gets 71.5 percent of the late spouse’s benefit. One who waits until survivor full retirement age, which falls between 66…
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A marriage that lasted at least 10 years lets a divorced person 62 or older claim up to half an ex-spouse’s full benefit, taking nothing from the ex
A long marriage that ended in divorce can still leave a Social Security benefit behind. Social Security pays a divorced person a spouse’s benefit based on an ex’s earnings record, and the ex gives up nothing for it. The rule has a few conditions, and each one decides whether the benefit exists at all. The…
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GoodRx users have until December 29 to file a privacy claim, and no judge rules on final approval until February 11, 2027
A claim filed by December 29 could pay out well after a federal judge takes up the GoodRx privacy settlement on February 11, 2027, and the money may not move even then. The deal sets aside $32 million, paid by GoodRx and Criteo. Anyone in the United States who used GoodRx before April 20, 2024,…
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Social Security estimates a widowed mother with two children will average $4,076 a month in January, $142 above what the same family gets now
Survivor families with children get the largest dollar raise of any family type in Social Security’s January table. SSA estimates that a widowed mother with two children will average $4,076 a month, which is $142 above the $3,934 that kind of family averages now. The gain follows the 3.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment the agency announced…
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The IRS lets a married couple who are both 65 or older take $12,000 off their taxable income through 2028 under the new senior deduction
When both spouses in a married couple have reached 65, the IRS lets them subtract $12,000 from their taxable income. That is the couple version of the new senior deduction, and it runs for tax years 2025 through 2028. It comes on top of the extra standard deduction seniors already get, and it lowers the…