Personal Finance

Improper Social Security payments reach $1.1 billion

Published

2 months ago

August 12, 2024

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The Social Security Administration faces a “record-breaking backlog” of open cases, leading to approximately $1.1 billion in projected improper payments to beneficiaries, according to a new report from the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General.

The SSA OIG, which provides independent oversight of the agency’s programs and operations, found the agency’s backlog of so-called pending actions climbed to an all-time high of 5.2 million as of February.

Of those that were improper payment cases, the average processing time was 698 days, according to a sample evaluated by SSA OIG.

Improper payment includes overpayments, where beneficiaries are paid more than they should be, as well as underpayments, where payments to beneficiaries may be erroneously reduced.

If the pending cases had been resolved immediately, about 528,000 beneficiaries would have been improperly paid about $534 million, the report estimates.

After 12 months, that improper payment amount for those beneficiaries rose to about $756 million. At the time of the SSA OIG’s review, many of the cases had been outstanding for more than 12 months, bringing the improper payment amount to the reported $1.1 billion figure.

Some overpayments may be preventable

Earlier this year, the Social Security Administration put in place new policies to make it easier for beneficiaries to resolve overpayment issues with the agency, loosening previous rules that called for clawing back 100% of the money beneficiaries received.

However, the agency’s workflow still makes it vulnerable to inaccurate payments, which is worsened by processing delays.

The SSA OIG report’s findings are based pending actions at the SSA’s processing centers, which handle appeal decisions, collect debt, correct records and process benefit decisions.

“The longer it takes SSA to process [processing center] pending actions, the longer beneficiaries wait for underpayments due or they receive larger overpayments to pay back,” the SSA OIG report states.

Some incidents of overpayments may be preventable in cases where beneficiaries do not provide necessary information to the Social Security Administration in a timely fashion, said Paul Van de Water, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

However, other cases are just due to slow processing times by the agency, he said.

“Whatever the source of the problem, getting the claims and adjustments processed more quickly would be advantageous,” Van de Water said.

Improvements depend on ‘sustained adequate funding’

Notably, the Social Security Administration met its performance measure goals for pending processing center actions in four of the six fiscal years between 2018 and 2023, according to the report.

However, the agency was not able to meet is goals in two of the fiscal years in that time period was due to unexpected staff reductions, increased workloads and less than expected overtime funding, according to the Social Security Administration.

“The number of beneficiaries continues to grow while we have the lowest staffing levels across the agency in 25 years,” Dustin Brown, acting chief of staff at the Social Security Administration, wrote in a letter in response to the SSA OIG report.

The Social Security Administration has more than 650 fewer employees working on processing center workloads than it did eight years ago, Brown added. During that time, the number of beneficiaries who rely on Social Security benefits has risen to almost 72 million, up from about 64 million, he said.

The Social Security Administration agreed with the recommendations that came out of SSA OIG’s report to develop a workload and staffing plan, to create performance measures for pending actions and to establish time frame targets to handle those workloads.

However, the agency’s ability to successfully implement those recommendations will depend on “sustained adequate funding” to pay for hiring, overtime and improved technology, Brown wrote in his letter.

The Social Security Administration has faced a “customer service crisis” that has prompted long phone hold times and waits for disability determinations in addition to inaccurate payments, Van de Water said.

Unless the agency is given an adequate amount of funding in its budget, that crisis could worsen, Van de Water predicts.

While a Senate proposal calls for increased funding for the agency for the fiscal year starting in October, a House version instead calls for cutting the agency’s funding.

“Everyone wants to get rid of these long processing delays, but as long as the budget is so tightly constrained, that’s going to be very difficult to do,” Van de Water said.

Personal Finance

Maximum Social Security retirement benefit: Here’s who qualifies

Published

19 hours ago

October 17, 2024

Business Finance News

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Millions of Social Security beneficiaries will benefit from the 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment for 2025, set to take effect in January.

With that increase, the maximum Social Security benefit for a worker retiring at full retirement age will jump to $4,018 per month, up from $3,822 per month this year, according to the Social Security Administration.

But while those maximum benefits will see a $196 monthly increase, retirement benefits will go up by about $50 per month on average, according to the agency.

The average monthly benefit for retired workers is expected to increase to $1,976 per month in 2025, a $49 increase from $1,927 per month as of this year, according to the Social Security Administration.

Who gets maximum Social Security benefits?

The highest Social Security benefits generally go to people who have had maximum earnings their entire working career, according to Paul Van de Water, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

That cohort generally includes a “very small number of people,” he said.

Because Social Security retirement benefits are calculated based on the highest 35 years of earnings, workers need to consistently have wages up to that threshold to earn the maximum retirement benefit.

“Very few people start out at age 21 earning the maximum level,” Van de Water said.

Social Security is a key issue for voters, survey finds: Here’s how to maximize benefits

Workers contribute payroll taxes to Social Security up to what is known as a taxable maximum.

In 2024, a 6.2% tax paid by both workers and employers (or 12.4% for self-employed workers) applies to up to $168,600 in earnings. In 2025, that will go up to $176,100.

Notably, that limit applies only to wages that are subject to federal payroll taxes. If a wealthy person has other sources of income, for example from investments that do not require payroll tax contributions, that will not affect the size of their Social Security benefits, said Jim Blair, vice president of Premier Social Security Consulting and a former Social Security administrator.

How can you increase your Social Security benefits?

There are beneficiaries who are receiving Social Security checks amounting to more than $4,000 per month, and they usually have waited to claim until age 70, according to Blair.

“Technically, waiting until 70 gets you the most amount of Social Security benefits,” Blair said.

By claiming retirement benefits at the earliest possible age — 62 — beneficiaries receive permanently reduced benefits.

At full retirement age — either 66 or 67, depending on date of birth — retirees receive 100% of the benefits they’ve earned.

And by waiting from full retirement age up to age 70, beneficiaries stand to receive an 8% benefit boost per year.

By waiting from age 62 to 70, beneficiaries may see a 77% increase in benefits.

However, because everyone’s circumstances are different, it may not always make sense to wait until the highest possible claiming age, Blair said.

Prospective beneficiaries need to evaluate not only how their claiming decision will impact them individually, but also their spouse and any dependents, he said.

“You have to look at your own situation before you apply,” Blair said.

Also, it is important for prospective beneficiaries to create an online My Social Security account to review their benefit statements, he said. That will show estimates of future benefits and the earnings history the agency has on record.

Because that earnings information is used to calculate benefits, individuals should double check that information to make sure it is correct, Blair said. If it is not, they should contact the Social Security Administration to fix it.

Personal Finance

Inherited IRA rules are changing in 2025 — here’s what to know

Published

19 hours ago

October 17, 2024

Business Finance News

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What to know about the 10-year rule

Before the Secure Act of 2019, heirs could “stretch” inherited IRA withdrawals over their lifetime, which helped reduce yearly taxes.

But certain accounts inherited since 2020 are subject to the “10-year rule,” meaning IRAs must be empty by the 10th year following the original account owner’s death. The rule applies to heirs who are not a spouse, minor child, disabled, chronically ill or certain trusts.

Since then, there’s been confusion about whether the heirs subject to the 10-year rule needed to take yearly withdrawals, known as required minimum distributions, or RMDs.

“You have a multi-dimensional matrix of outcomes for different inherited IRAs,” Dickson said. It’s important to understand how these rules impact your distribution strategy, he added.

After years of waived penalties, the IRS in July confirmed certain heirs will need to begin yearly RMDs from inherited accounts starting in 2025. The rule applies if the original account owner had reached their RMD age before death.

If you miss yearly RMDs or don’t take enough, there is a 25% penalty on the amount you should have withdrawn. But it’s possible to reduce the penalty to 10% if the RMD is “timely corrected” within two years, according to the IRS.

Consider ‘strategic distributions’

If you’re subject to the 10-year rule for your inherited IRA, spreading withdrawals evenly over the 10 years reduces taxes for most heirs, according to research released by Vanguard in June.

However, you should also consider “strategic distributions,” according to certified financial planner Judson Meinhart, director of financial planning at Modera Wealth Management in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

“It starts by understanding what your current marginal tax rate is” and how that could change over the 10-year window, he said.

Roth conversions on the rise: Here's what to know

For example, it could make sense to make withdrawals during lower-tax years, such as years of unemployment or early retirement before receiving Social Security payments.

However, boosting adjusted gross income can trigger other consequences, such as eligibility for college financial aid, income-driven student loan payments or Medicare Part B and Part D premiums for retirees.

Personal Finance

Nearly 2 in 5 cardholders have maxed out a credit card or come close

Published

23 hours ago

October 17, 2024

Business Finance News

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Between higher prices and high interest rates, some Americans have had a hard time keeping up.

As a result, many are using more of their available credit and now, nearly 2 in 5 credit cardholders — 37% — have maxed out or come close to maxing out a credit card since the Federal Reserve began raising rates in March 2022, according to a new report by Bankrate.

Most borrowers who are over extended blame rising prices and a higher cost of living, Bankrate found.

Other reasons cardholders blame for maxing out a credit card or coming close include a job or income loss, an emergency expense, medical costs and too much discretionary spending.

“With limited options to absorb those higher costs, many low-income Americans have had no choice but to take on debt to afford costlier essentials — at a time when credit card rates are near record highs,” Sarah Foster, an analyst at Bankrate, said in a statement.

As prices crept higher, so did credit card balances.

The average balance per consumer now stands at $6,329, up 4.8% year over year, according to the latest credit industry insights report from TransUnion.

At the same time, the average credit card charges more than 20% interest — near an all-time high — and half of cardholders carry debt from month to month, according to another report by Bankrate.

Carrying a higher balance has a direct impact on your utilization rate, the ratio of debt to total credit, and is one of the factors that can influence your credit score. Higher credit score borrowers typically have both higher limits and lower utilization rates.

Credit experts generally advise borrowers to keep revolving debt below 30% of their available credit to limit the effect that high balances can have.

As of August, the aggregate credit card utilization rate was more than 21%, according to Bankrate’s analysis of Equifax data.

Still, “if you have five credit cards [with utilization rates around] 20%, you have a lot of debt out there,” said Howard Dvorkin, a certified public accountant and the chairman of Debt.com. “People are living a life that they can’t afford right now, and they are putting the balance on credit cards.”

Generation X at risk

Gen X most likely to max out their credit cards, survey finds

More than any other generation, Gen Xers in their 40s and 50s are most likely to have maxed out a credit card or come close in the past two and a half years, according to Bankrate’s report.

Of Gen Xers, 27% have maxed out their credit cards compared to 23% of millennials and 17% of Baby Boomers. Young adults in Gen Z are the least likely to have maxed out a card, according to the survey, which polled more than 3,500 adults, including 3,015 who are credit cardholders and 1,104 who have either maxed out their credit cards or come close.

Gen X, the so-called “sandwich generation,” must contend with supporting the generations ahead of them and their children at a time when the costs of higher education and health care have never been higher, studies also show.

Potential problems ahead

Cardholders who have maxed out or come close to maxing out their credit cards are also more likely to become delinquent.

Credit card delinquency rates are already higher across the board, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and TransUnion both reported.

“Consumers have been measured in taking on additional revolving debt despite the inflationary environment over the past few years, although there has been an uptick in delinquencies in recent months,” said Tom McGee, CEO of the International Council of Shopping Centers.

A debt is considered delinquent when a borrower misses a full billing cycle without making a payment, or what’s considered 30 days past due. That can damage your credit score and impact the interest rate you’ll pay for credit cards, car loans and mortgages — or whether you’ll get a loan at all.

Some of the best ways to improve your credit standing come down to paying your bills on time every month, and in full, if possible, Dvorkin said. “Understand that if you don’t, then whatever you buy, over time, will end up costing you double.”