Just imagine you spent decades as a teacher, police officer, or firefighter serving your community. You earned a pension through that work, but you also spent years in the private sector building up Social Security credits. Then retirement hits, and suddenly your Social Security benefits get slashed—sometimes by hundreds of dollars each month—just because you also receive a government pension.
For over 3 million Americans, this wasn’t just a hypothetical nightmare. It was reality.
The Social Security Fairness Act Made History
That reality changed on January 5, 2025, when President Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law. This groundbreaking legislation eliminated two provisions that had been penalizing public servants for decades: the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset.
The WEP, introduced back in 1983, had been reducing Social Security retirement benefits for people who earned pensions from jobs where they didn’t pay Social Security taxes. The GPO, dating to 1977, cut spousal and survivor benefits by two-thirds of a person’s government pension amount, sometimes wiping them out entirely.
By July 2025, the Social Security Administration had already distributed over 3.1 million payments totaling more than $17 billion in retroactive benefits—and they finished five months ahead of schedule. The average affected retiree is seeing about $360 more per month, while some spouses and survivors are receiving between $700 and $1,190 extra each month.
These adjustments are retroactive to January 2024, meaning many people received substantial lump-sum payments covering over a year of benefit increases they should have been getting all along.
Your 2026 Benefits Are Getting A Boost
Here’s some good news arriving with your morning coffee in 2026: Social Security benefits are increasing by 2.8 percent. For the average retiree, that translates to an extra $56 per month, bringing the typical monthly check to $2,071. Married couples receiving benefits will see their combined monthly amount jump by $88, from $3,120 to $3,208.
This cost-of-living adjustment affects nearly 71 million Social Security beneficiaries starting in January 2026, with payments automatically adjusted to help your benefits keep pace with inflation. If you receive Supplemental Security Income, your increase arrives even earlier—December 31, 2025. While a 2.8 percent bump might not sound like much compared to the wild inflation spikes of recent years, it’s actually close to the ten-year average of 3.1 percent annual increases.
But there’s more happening behind the scenes. The highest amount of earnings subject to Social Security tax is jumping to $184,500 in 2026, up from $176,100 this year. If you’re still working while collecting benefits and haven’t reached full retirement age, the earnings limits are also rising. In 2026, you can earn up to $24,480 before any benefit reductions kick in—that’s up from $23,400 in 2025. For those reaching full retirement age during 2026, that limit climbs all the way to $65,160.
The Social Security Administration started sending benefit statements in late November 2025, so keep an eye on your mailbox or check your online account. These changes mean real money in real pockets, helping millions of Americans maintain their purchasing power as they navigate retirement in an expensive world.
