March is Women’s History Month. It is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the achievements of women. Social Security provides vital benefits and financial protection for women.

Nearly 55% of the people receiving Social Security benefits are women. Today, more women work, pay Social Security taxes, and earn credit toward monthly retirement income than at any other time in our nation’s history.

Women also have longer average life expectancies than men and tend to live more years in retirement. This means women have a greater chance of exhausting other sources of income. It’s important for women to plan early and wisely for retirement.

Our online booklet, Social Security: What Every Woman Should Know found at www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10127.pdf, provides detailed information about how life events can affect a woman’s Social Security retirement benefits. These events may include marriage, death of a spouse, divorce, self-employment, and other life or career changes.

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for approximately 70 million Americans will increase 8.7 percent in 2023, the Social Security Administration announced today. On average, Social Security benefits will increase by more than $140 per month starting in January.

The 8.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 65 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2023. Increased payments to more than 7 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 30, 2022.

Kilolo Kijakazi, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, today announced 12 new Compassionate Allowances conditions. The Compassionate Allowances program quickly identifies claims where the applicant’s condition or disease clearly meets Social Security’s statutory standard for disability. Due to the severe nature of many of these conditions, these claims are often allowed based on medical confirmation of the diagnosis alone.

For more information on the 12 new conditions, please visit www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/2022/#8-2022-1

Duo Remain America’s Most Popular Baby Names for 2021

Olivia and Liam are America’s most popular baby names in 2021. Liam has been the top choice for new parents for five years in a row, and Olivia has topped the list for three years. Once again, during this unprecedented time, parents chose to stick with familiar names. Out of both Top 10 lists combined, only one name changed, with Theodore replacing Alexander in popularity. The name Theodore joins the Top 10 list for the first time–welcome to the club “Teddy!”

Here are the top 10 boys and girls names for 2021:

The Acting Commissioner of Social Security announced this morning that in-person services, including for people without an appointment, will resume on April 7, 2022.

Your Benefit Statement is a tax form from Social Security that shows the total amount of Social Security benefits you received in the previous year. It is also referred to as an SSA-1099. You should report the amount of Social Security benefits you received to the Internal Revenue Service on your federal tax return.

The Benefit Statement is not available for people who only receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments because SSI payments are not taxed.

If you receive Social Security benefits, SSA mailed your Benefit Statement to the address on file with them. If you did not receive it, or if it was lost, you can get your SSA-1099 instantly online with your personal my Social Security account at:

www.ssa.gov/myaccount/replacement-SSA-1099.html.

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for approximately 70 million Americans will increase 5.9 percent in 2022, the Social Security Administration announced today.

The 5.9 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 64 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2022. Increased payments to approximately 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 30, 2021. (Note: some people receive both Social Security and SSI benefits). The Social Security Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The U.S. Department of Education announced yesterday (August 20, 2021) that it will cancel $5.8 billion in student debt for more than 320,000 borrowers. The debt forgiveness, which will go to borrowers with a total and permanent disability, will be automatically granted using data already available to the Social Security Administration. Borrowers will begin to see the relief in September.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued the third round of Economic Impact Payments (EIP) in April. Most Social Security beneficiaries and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients should have received their EIPs by now. If a person is missing their first or second EIP, they need to file a 2020 tax return with the IRS and claim the 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit (RRC) as soon as possible.

Any person who did not receive his or her EIP, or the full amount of their EIP, please read this carefully. To get any missing first or second EIPs, file a 2020 tax return with the IRS and claim the 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit (RRC) immediately. People should file the 2020 tax return even if they have no income to report for 2020. When the tax return is processed, the IRS will pay the RRC as a tax refund. The IRS will send any additional third EIP amount owed in 2021 separately. 

If people already filed their 2020 tax return, they do not need to do anything else.

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for approximately 70 million Americans will increase 1.3 percent in 2021, the Social Security Administration announced today.

The 1.3 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 64 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2021. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 31, 2020. (Note: some people receive both Social Security and SSI benefits). The Social Security Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.