Category: Social Security
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Social Security pays divorced spouses 62 and older up to half of an ex’s full benefit when the marriage lasted at least 10 years and they have not remarried
Social Security pays a divorced spouse who is 62 or older up to half of the ex-spouse’s full retirement age benefit, as long as the marriage lasted at least 10 years and the divorced spouse has not remarried. The agency’s family benefits page sets the ceiling at up to half of the benefit amount the…
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Social Security checks would again be shielded from federal debt offsets under a House bill introduced September 24 with 15 Democratic cosponsors, now in committee
A House bill introduced September 24, 2026 would again shield Social Security benefits from federal debt offsets, and it has not moved past committee. H.R. 10557, the Protection of Social Security Benefits Restoration Act, was filed by Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., with 15 Democratic cosponsors. Nothing in it is law, and no payment rule changes…
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Social Security survivor benefits start at age 60, or 50 for a disabled widow or widower, and can reach 100% of the late spouse’s benefit at full retirement age
Social Security pays survivor benefits to a widow or widower starting at age 60, or as early as age 50 when the survivor has a disability, and the monthly check can reach 100% of the late spouse’s benefit at full retirement age. The agency’s survivor benefit page says payments start at 71.5% of the spouse’s…
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Social Security’s watchdog estimates about 610,165 underpayments totaling more than $195 million were never paid to living SSI recipients, and the agency agreed to its fixes
Social Security’s Office of the Inspector General estimates that the agency never paid about 610,165 back payments, worth $195,638,055 in total, that were owed to living Supplemental Security Income recipients. The watchdog’s audit of SSI underpayments, dated August 28, 2026, puts the wider gap at 1.1 million unpaid underpayments worth about $291 million once survivors…
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Social Security withholds half of each monthly check by default to recover a new overpayment, starting at least 30 days after the notice, while SSI keeps a 10% rate
Social Security now withholds 50% of a monthly benefit by default to recover a new overpayment, and collection does not begin until at least 30 days after the notice is sent. Supplemental Security Income, the needs-based program, keeps its recovery rate at 10% of the payment. The rule is not new this month, but the…
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Social Security generally pays children of a deceased worker 75% of the parent’s benefit, though a family maximum can lower every survivor’s check
When a parent who paid into Social Security dies, the agency can pay monthly checks to the worker’s children. Social Security says children generally get 75% of the parent’s benefit, but a cap called the family maximum can pull every survivor’s check down. The rule matters most to widowed parents and grandparents raising children, because…
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SSI stops for any month a recipient spends entirely outside the U.S., and after 30 days abroad a recipient must be back 30 straight days to qualify again
Supplemental Security Income pays only to people who are living in the United States, and a long trip abroad can stop the checks. The Social Security Administration’s rule is built around calendar months and a 30-day clock. A recipient who spends an entire month outside the country is ineligible for that month, and one who…
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Social Security can waive repayment of an overpayment for beneficiaries who did not cause it and cannot afford to pay it back, using Form SSA-632
An overpayment letter from Social Security does not always end with a repayment. A beneficiary who agrees the money was overpaid, did not cause the mistake and cannot afford to repay it can ask the agency to waive the debt on Form SSA-632. Social Security says it will stop recovering the overpayment until it decides…
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Social Security lets a divorced spouse married at least 10 years collect up to half of an ex’s full benefit, and the ex’s own check does not shrink
A person who was married for at least 10 years and later divorced can collect Social Security on a former spouse’s earnings record, and the former spouse’s own monthly check does not go down because of it. Social Security spells out both points in its publication for divorced spouses. The rule matters most to people…
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Social Security’s maximum check for a worker retiring at 70 in January 2027 is $5,358 a month, against $3,094 for one who claims at 62
A worker who has paid the maximum into Social Security every year and retires in January 2027 would collect $5,358 a month by waiting until 70, according to the agency’s Office of the Chief Actuary. The same worker claiming at 62 would get $3,094 a month, a difference of $2,264 every month for life. Those…