What Retirees Need To Know About the Upcoming Social Security Changes

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You’ve probably read multiple headlines about changes to Social Security, or maybe you’re about to retire and wondering if your payments will cover rising expenses.

In 2025, there will be a few changes from the Social Security Administration (SSA) that will affect how much you’ll get, and other changes like income restrictions.

Here are five changes to Social Security that you need to know.

Cost of Living Adjustment Will Most Likely Go Up in 2026 

Your Social Security payments will increase by 2.5% in 2025 to account for inflation. SSA estimates that this increase will affect more than 72.5 million Americans. 

For example, if you were to receive $1,500 per month in 2024, then the COLA would have raised it by around $37.50. It’s not a large bump, but it might still help. AARP reports that the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2026 may be higher, even as much as 2.8%. Again, to adjust for costs due to inflation. 

Earnings Limits Have Gone Up

If you plan on working when you receive Social Security checks, your payment may be smaller if you earn above a certain threshold if you’re not at full retirement age (FRA). Right now, you can only make up to $23,400 per year without losing your benefits. The minute you do, the SSA will deduct one dollar for every two dollars you earn over that limit.

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The year you reach FRA (which may be 67 years old, depending on the year you’re born), you can earn up to $62,160 per year before you hit your birthday. Until then, the SSA will deduct one dollar for every three dollars earned over that limit. 

Earning limits may change each year, so check with the SSA to see when you’re getting close to claiming your Social Security benefits.   

Taxable Maximum Earnings Increased

Each year, the maximum amount of your earnings that’s subject to the Social Security payroll taxes tends to increase. For 2025, that amount went up to $176,100. 

What this means is that any earnings up to this amount are subject to Social Security taxes. This amount is most likely going to increase in 2026. 

Increase in Payments for Some via the Social Security Fairness Act

The Social Security Fairness Act was signed into law on January 5, 2025. It eliminated the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), which reduced Social Security benefits for certain public sector employees with public pensions. 

The repeal is retroactive for benefits that are payable after December 2023 and have adjusted payments starting back on February 25, 2025. This would have affected around 1.1 million people. 

What You Do To Prepare for Any Changes

To see how much you may get in Social Security payments, log in to or sign up for a my Social Security account to look at your projected benefits in more detail. If you were affected by the WE or GPO, see how the Social Security Fairness Act may affect your benefits.

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Use this amount to think about how you can budget for your retirement, though it may be harder to predict the farther you are away from retirement. And if you think you’ll still need to work when you start receiving benefits, check to make sure you’ll stay under the earnings limits for each year before you reach full retirement age. 

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