Here at SWC, we love to hear from clients who received big chunks of money they weren’t expecting, especially when it’s thanks to the Social Security Fairness Act. Usually, they have mixed emotions because they’re overjoyed by the windfall profit and simultaneously concerned about the potential tax implications.

Emotions aren’t mixed on our side. That’s because we’re pleased with our clients’ good fortune and we’re eager to help them keep more of their money through savvy tax planning.

Take a phone call we received recently from one of our clients, a recently retired schoolteacher over the age of 65. She told us she received a letter from the Social Security Administration (SSA) informing her that she was going to start receiving unexpected benefits, thanks to the recent passage of the Social Security Fairness Act. She had no clue about her eligibility and was so excited to find out she was due a retroactive payment from the SSA for 2024!

Our client was fortunate that the SSA was able to confirm her eligibility and get in touch with her. Not everyone who’s eligible will be so lucky. The SSA openly admits it doesn’t know how to get in touch with everyone who’s now eligible for benefits and unaware of their eligibility.

If you’re retired or close to retirement age, here’s what you need to know about the Social Security Fairness Act.

What Is the Social Security Fairness Act?

The Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law on Jan. 5, 2025, is legislation that repeals two provisions that reduced or eliminated the Social Security benefits for more than 3.2 million people who receive a pension based on work that was not covered by Social Security (a “non-covered pension”) because they did not pay Social Security taxes.

The Act addresses the following two provisions: Continue reading… Continue reading… Continue reading…