Born in 1960 Social Security benefit affected?

[DaveD565078]

hI. An article appeared in the January 2021 Bulletin titled, ""Born in 1960? Prepare for a Social Security Hit." In this article, it said that people who were born in 1960 could take as much as a 9% benefit decrease (for life) because of lower wages earned in 2020 because Covid affected the "average wage index." AARP urged members to contact Congress to fix this. I did, but I never heard from my congresswoman. So I am asking: Has this been fixed? It would seem to be OUTrageous if it were not. A 9% reduction in benefits because income levels were down in 2020?? That doesn't make sense. But I would like to verify that this issue has been resolved. Thank you.

[kc31609516]

yes someone born dec 31 1959 gets more than someone born a mere day later on jan 1 1960

class action suit forthcoming. i clerked for the tobacco and asbestos settlements with and for

richard t (dickie scrugss) and it will be forthcoming through dickie's successors and i will be more than happy to clerk again. go back home to pascagoula missippi and get after it. !!!  FOR FREE!

[GailL1]

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@kc31609516 wrote:

yes someone born dec 31 1959 gets more than someone born a mere day later on jan 1 1960

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No, they don’t 

SSA.gov- Retirement Benefits  \

copy and pasted from the link provided:

1. If you were born on January 1st, you should refer to the previous year.
2. If you were born on the 1st of the month, we figure your benefit (and your full retirement age) as if your birthday was in the previous month. If you were born on January 1st, we figure your benefit (and your full retirement age) as if your birthday was in December of the previous year.

And also from here:

SSA.gov - Normal Retirement Age 

Persons born on January 1 of any year should refer to the normal retirement age for the previous year.

So in fact, a beneficiary gets a time bonus if they were a New Year’s Day baby.

[Tonster521]

@kc31609516 I do not understand your first sentence. Both individuals attain their Full Retirement Age (aka Normal Retirement Age) at 66 years 10 months or October 2026. I am providing a link to the SSA https://www.ssa.gov/oact/ProgData/nra.html  The SS rules address folks born on the first of month. Did you mean to compare folks born in 1959 with folks born on or after January 1, 1960? Or is there some earnings loss that may affect the PIA?

[GailL1]

Actually, it turned out to not be that bad of a problem - the AWI adjustment had been worse in other years when the economy had been the culprit like 2009 and the Great Recession.

Congress.gov - Congressionsal Research Report 09/22/2021 - Social Security: The Average Wage Index

The. AWI calculations always rise (and sometimes falls) based on what is happening in the economy - when the “crying wolf” started, there was only a guess at what would be the results - that turned out to be much less of a problem than they thought especially since there had been other times in history when the result was worse.