7 Changes Coming to the Social Security Program in 2020
SSA’s retirement and disability programs, the latter involving a medical records analysis are valuable to Americans. Here are 7 changes for the year 2020.
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Social security retirement and disability benefit programs are major beneficial programs for retired and disabled Americans, offering them valuable financial support. Disability benefits are however, granted only after careful consideration of the claim and rigorous scrutiny via medical records analysis to ensure the claim is a genuine one. Retirees as well as disabled people receiving benefits have to keep up-to-date on the changes made in the Social Security program from time to time. Over the past decade U.S. citizens age 65 and above have increased 34% to more than 50 million people. With the huge group of baby boomers approaching retirement, the resources of Social Security are becoming depleted. There are some significant changes coming to the social security program in the year 2020. •
SSA will start paying more in benefits than it receives: In 2020, the SSA will start paying more in benefits than it receives, according to the Social Security and Medicare Trustees report. This will be the first time this is happening since the trust funds were established in 1983. It is estimated that the present $2.8 trillion in excess trust fund revenue that has accrued over the last 35 years will be depleted by 2034. If that happens, the program will be able to pay only 77% of the promised benefits from FICA taxes.
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COLA increase: The Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for 2020 is expected to be about 1.8%, 1% less than the amount for 2019, 2.8%. The average COLA amount over the past decade has been just 1.4%, and therefore SS benefits have lost around 1/3rd of their buying poser since the year 2000. This is because the goods and services usually purchased by retirees – healthcare, housing costs and so on – have increased much faster than the COLAs announced during that period. That said, for those living off social security benefits alone, even the smallest increase counts a lot. For the average retired person, this COLA increase would amount to around $25 or more per month while the highest earners could receive an increase in benefits of around $50 or more per month.
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Increase in retirement age: The full retirement age will increase from 65 to 67. People who turn 62 in 2020 will still be eligible to claim reduced social security benefits. However, they will have to wait until they are 66 and 8 months to claim their full retirement age benefits. The full retirement age for those born in 1960 or later will increase to 67. This increase in full retirement age was first mandated by the Congress in the 1980s with a view to strengthening the financial position of the
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SS program.
In addition, better health of older people and increased life
expectancy were also cited as factors that justified the increase. •
More benefits will be taxed: Higher benefits in 2020 means more retirees will have to pay income taxes on at least a portion of their social security benefits. In 2019, almost half of older household paid taxes on a part of their social security benefits. You have to pay taxes if the combined income exceeds $25,000 for individuals and $34,000 for married couples. These thresholds have never been indexed for inflation.
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No spousal benefits: Those who reach full retirement age in 2020 or later, will not be able to file a restricted claim for spousal benefits. Those who were born in 1953 or earlier, can still claim spousal benefits – they can claim half of their spouse’s or ex-spouse’s full retirement age benefits. At the same time, their own benefits will continue to earn delayed retirement credits until they reach age 70. Once they reach 70 years of age, they can switch to their own maximum retirement benefits.
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File-and-suspend bonus will end: People who reached full retirement age after April 29, 2016 were no longer allowed to file and suspend their benefits, following the change made by Congress to Social Security in the year 2015. This set off benefits for eligible family members while one’s own benefits continued to grow by 8% each year up to age 70. The last batch of people who filed and suspended by April 29, 2016 will turn 70 in the year 2020, the age at which they automatically start receiving their social security benefits.
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Increase in maximum benefits: People who are at the higher end of the income scale ($132,900 or more for 2019), can expect their benefits to increase slightly in 2020. No one at full retirement age can receive more than $2,861 per month, irrespective of their pre-retirement income. This amount can be increased by delaying social security until you reach the age of 70. Those who delay filing for social security until age 70 are very likely to notice a significant increase in benefits – around 32% increase compared to starting the benefits at 66. In this case, the maximum monthly benefit could be up to around $3,776 per month.
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Whether retirement or disability, Social Security programs are a lifesaver for millions of Americans. People are therefore keenly watching the steps the government may take to address the program’s financial shortfalls.
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918-221-7791