The Social Security Fairness Act (SSFA), signed into law by President Biden in January 2025, eliminated two long-standing rules—the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). These rules had reduced Social Security benefits for over 3 million public employees, like teachers, police officers, and other government workers, who also received pensions from jobs that didn’t pay into Social Security. WEP reduced their personal benefits, while GPO reduced spousal or survivor benefits. The repeal applies retroactively to benefits starting in January 2024. David G. Freitag, CLU, ChFC, CRPC, and Bruce A. Tannahill, JD, CPA, AEP, discuss the implications for financial professionals and their clients in the current issue of the Journal of Financial Service Professionals.
The repeal has a major impact on retirement planning. People who were affected by WEP or GPO will now get higher monthly Social Security benefits, which may reduce the need for savings or allow them to retire earlier than planned. It also simplifies Social Security planning, since people no longer need to calculate how WEP or GPO might reduce their benefits.
However, this change comes at a cost. The estimated $196 billion increase in benefits over 10 years will come from the existing Social Security Trust Fund, which is already under pressure. This could speed up the depletion of the fund—possibly by six months—raising concerns that future benefit cuts could happen unless Congress addresses the system’s long-term funding.
In short, the SSFA brings meaningful relief and fairness to many public workers, but it also adds urgency to the need for broader Social Security reform.
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