WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), and colleagues reintroduced legislation to help Americans better plan for retirement and enhance retirement security by ensuring they have the information they need to make more informed decisions regarding when to claim Social Security benefits.
“Americans have earned their benefits. When planning for retirement, let’s make sure they have the best information available and receive what they deserve,” said Dr. Cassidy.
Cassidy was joined by U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Chris Coons (D-DE) in reintroducing the legislation.
One of the key financial decisions facing older Americans is when to claim Social Security retirement benefits. Social Security benefits are available to Americans who are as young as age 62, but those who choose to claim their benefits later receive higher monthly payments, with the maximum benefits available to those who claim at age 70 or older.
Most people do not claim benefits at the age that would maximize their income in retirement. By doing so, they forgo a significant amount of retirement income. To provide additional clarity for Americans deciding when to claim their benefits, this legislation changes the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) terminology from “early eligibility age,” “full retirement age,” and “delayed retirement credits” to “minimum monthly benefit age,” “standard monthly benefit age,” and “maximum monthly benefit age” to better reflect Social Security’s claiming design and how the program works.
The legislation would also help Americans better plan for retirement by requiring the SSA to mail social security statements—which detail how much a person has paid into Social Security and Medicare—every five years to individuals with Social Security accounts between the ages of 25 and 54, every two years for those between the ages of 55 and 59, and annually for those 60 and above.
Click here for bill text on nomenclature. Click here for bill text on regular statements for beneficiaries.
Background
Cassidy is a leading advocate for Social Security beneficiaries and recently announced over 73,000 Louisianans have already received a total of $585,586,698.41 in retroactive payments after the repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). This comes after Cassidy successfully secured a vote in the U.S. Senate to pass the Social Security Fairness Act which fully repealed WEP and GPO. After the bill was passed, Cassidy urged SAA to implement the new law as quickly as possible. Louisiana has now received the seventh most of any state in retroactive payments.
SSA began depositing retroactive payments into bank accounts in late February and completed nearly all retroactive payments by the end of March. Adjustments to ongoing monthly benefits will begin in April.
Before the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act, around 94,000 Louisianans were unfairly penalized by WEP and GPO. WEP was enacted in 1983 and reduces the Social Security benefits of workers who receive pensions from a federal, state, or local government for employment not covered by Social Security. GPO was enacted in 1977 and reduces Social Security spousal benefits for spouses, widows, and widowers whose spouses receive pensions from a federal, state, or local government.
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