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The Social Security Fairness Act was signed by President Biden on January 5, 2025 with bipartisan support. This important legislation resulted in the elimination of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). As a result, over 3.2 million Americans will see an increase in their Social Security benefits. This legislation also provides for retroactive benefits to Jan. 1, 2024. 

Those affected by this new legislation include some police officers, firefighters, teachers, government workers, individuals with foreign pensions and others who did not pay into the Social Security system during those years of employment but then went on to earn Social Security benefits by working in other jobs where they did pay into Social Security. In fact, for some of those individuals who are married or divorced and never paid into the Social Security system, they may also now be eligible for spousal and survivor benefits off of their spouse or ex-spouse. 

Those affected may now be eligible for substantial increases in their own Social Security benefits due to the elimination of WEP. In addition, they may now also be eligible for spousal and survivor benefits, which were previously reduced or eliminated, due to the elimination of the GPO.  These increases could substantially increase their current and lifetime Social Security benefits, therefore providing significant increases to their retirement income for life. 

For those individuals who can now benefit from the elimination of the WEP and GPO, but have not yet filed for benefits, this is an opportunity to reassess what their projected benefits will be and to identify the “optimal” Social Security filing strategy given their new eligible benefit amounts. 

Unfortunately, the rules to secure missed benefits and optimize new available benefits are complicated.  It is critical to know how to calculate what the increased eligible Social Security benefits will be for those affected and how they can go about recouping missed benefits and filing for new eligible benefits.

Furthermore, it is important to know how to integrate these new rules into a comprehensive Social Security filing strategy in order to optimize eligible spousal, ex-spousal, survivor and other eligible benefits available in the Social Security system.

Advisors assisting their clients with Social Security planning should have an understanding of the following:

• What is the WEP and the GPO and how did it affect benefits previously
• Who is eligible to benefit from the elimination of the WEP and GPO
• How much additional Social Security benefits are available
• How can individuals claim these additional benefits and recoup missed benefits
• What’s the best way to incorporate the new WEP and GPO benefits into filing strategies to optimize spousal, ex-spousal, survivor and other available benefits 

For some clarity, below is a recent case of a Connecticut teacher who was affected by WEP and GPO. Her Social Security benefits were substantially increased as a result of the elimination of WEP and GPO.

Recent Case Example

A retired teacher in Connecticut, was collecting only $352/mo. in Social Security benefits, due to the reductions from the WEP and GPO. Her own benefit, spousal benefits and eligible survivor benefits were all either reduced or eliminated due to the WEP and GPO.  Below is an analysis comparing her old benefits versus revised benefits under the new rules. 

We first calculated her non-WEP PIA (her SS benefit at her full retirement age (FRA)). This was estimated to be $815/mo.. Since she started her benefits 2 years prior to FRA, her non-WEP PIA was reduced to $707/mo.

She had also been denied spousal benefits due to the GPO. Now that the GPO is no longer applicable, she will be eligible for a spousal benefit of $974/mo., in addition to her own benefit of $707/mo. The combined benefit to her will be $1681/mo. after WEP and GPO are removed, compared to the $352/mo. benefit she had been receiving. That’s an additional benefit of $1,329/mo. or almost $16,000 per year. That means, for example, over the next 10 years of retirement she will receive over $160,000 in additional retirement benefits. Furthermore, since she was already collecting her SS benefits, Social Security will reimburse her back to 1/1/2024 for these additional eligible benefits. 

Certainly, every individual’s scenario will be different, but it’s important to have a Social Security WEP and GPO analysis prepared in order to ensure you capture all eligible benefits and do not leave any money on the table!