Category: Social Security
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An adult who lives in someone else’s household and pays nothing toward rent sees the SSI rate cut by up to a third
An adult on Supplemental Security Income who lives in someone else’s home and pays little or nothing toward the housing costs can see the monthly check shrink by as much as a third. Social Security’s own example uses the 2026 federal rate of $994 a month and shows that payment reduced by as much as…
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An SSI recipient keeps the first $85 of monthly wages in full, then loses half of every dollar after that
Supplemental Security Income does not take a paycheck dollar for dollar. Social Security’s rules let a recipient with no other income keep the first $85 of monthly wages without any effect on the check, and then count only half of every dollar earned above that. The $85 is not a single number in the rulebook.…
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An eligible SSI couple’s federal payment does not run out until their wages reach $3,067 a month
An eligible Supplemental Security Income couple with no other income can earn $3,067 a month in combined wages before the federal SSI payment reaches zero. Social Security sets the 2026 federal benefit rate for an eligible couple at $1,491 a month, and its income rules ignore part of every paycheck, so the payment shrinks slowly…
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Social Security is appealing an order to pay back benefits to children of early retirees, with the next brief in the appeal due October 14
Social Security is appealing a federal court order that requires it to recalculate and pay back benefits to children of early retirees. The agency’s defendants filed a notice of appeal on September 8, 2026, and the next brief in the appeal is due October 14, according to the class action website for L.N.P. v. Bisignano.…
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Social Security cannot set any of its 2027 numbers until the September inflation report lands on Wednesday, October 14
Social Security has not published a 2027 cost-of-living adjustment, and it will not have the data to do so until the government’s September inflation report comes out at 8:30 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, October 14. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the Consumer Price Index release on its October calendar for that morning, covering September…
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California’s SSI check for an older or disabled person in a licensed care home can reach $1,626.07 a month in 2026, against $1,233.94 for one living independently
An older or disabled Californian who lives in a licensed care home can get up to $1,626.07 a month in 2026 from SSI and the state’s supplement together. A person of the same kind who lives on their own gets $1,233.94. That is a difference of $392.13 a month, and it comes from the state’s…
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Hawaii’s state add-on to SSI averaged $616.40 in August, the largest of the 12 places where Social Security pays the supplement, while New Jersey’s averaged $36.32
Hawaii’s state add-on to Supplemental Security Income averaged $616.40 a month in August, on top of the federal check. New Jersey’s averaged $36.32. Social Security’s August 2026 statistics show how far apart the 12 places that use Social Security to pay a state supplement have grown. The 12 places, ranked Social Security lists 11 states…
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In Social Security’s own 2026 example, a worker under full retirement age who earns $33,400 has $4,460 withheld and keeps $5,140 of a $9,600 benefit
Social Security publishes its own worked example of what working does to an early retirement check, and the numbers are blunt. A person under full retirement age who earns $33,400 in 2026 has $4,460 withheld from benefits and keeps $5,140 of a $9,600 yearly benefit. The example appears on the agency’s Receiving Benefits While Working…
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Social Security overpayment repayments mailed to its old Portland P.O. box are returned to sender after Dec. 30, and payments now go to a Philadelphia box
Social Security has closed the Portland, Oregon, post office box that took repayments of overpaid benefits. Checks that reach it after Dec. 30 will be sent back to the sender, and the agency now wants repayments mailed to a box in Philadelphia. The change matters most to people whose overpayment notice still carries the old…
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The Claiming Age Clarity Act, a Social Security claiming-age bill backed by AARP, passed the Senate on Sept. 29 and went to President Trump’s desk
Congress has sent President Trump a bill that renames the key Social Security claiming ages without changing a dollar of any monthly check. The Senate passed the Claiming Age Clarity Act on Sept. 29, after the House approved it by voice vote in December 2025. Rep. Lloyd Smucker, a Pennsylvania Republican, sponsored the bill, and…