Social Security Tracker for July 14, 2025

General Commentary

Trump has dropped the "No taxes on Social Security" pledge due to vageries with the senate rules on changing social security. As a fallback they have added $4K to the standard deduction for seniors. This helps more people and spreads the benefit around more equitably than dropping the taxes would have done. All in all this is a good tradeoff for seniors.

Overpayment recoveries is one of the hot topics concerning the operations of the Social Security Administration. See the update in the Expert's Corner to learn about this issue. My own research suggests that as many as 1 million people each year receive overpayment notices for the first time. These overpayments are most typically due to data processing mistakes within the SSA and so they can hit anybody. It is rare that the fault lies with the person who received the overpayment. On average it appears that the average first time overpayment notice that goes out seeks to recover $3,500. If you don't have that kind of cash available in an emergency fund, note that you can appeal an overpayment notice and doing so puts the matter on hold until it has been reviewed. This can buy you time if you find yourself in this situation.

The appointment of Frank Bisignano to lead the Social Security Administration seems like a disaster if you see him only as a DOGE disciple. In my humble opinion he appears to be a cut above in terms of energy and competency as compared with the typical Trump appointee. His responses in the hearings seemed measured and far from the bull in a china shop that some see in him. (I don't consider the fact that he had to google the SSA position after it was offered to him to be a red flag, but I understand if you disagree.)

Your My Social Security account is still the preferred way to get changes made to your account. If possible, try that first before calling in and/or setting up an appointment for a live visit. Here is a good recent YouTube video about creating a Login.gov account.

Expert's Corner

I have discovered that a lot of the YouTube content creators that focus on Social Security and other retirement issues make a ton of money by accepting Chapter Advisors as their sponsors. Chapter recommends medicare plans and, just so you know, the likelihood is that the Chapter agent you talk to is not someone who resides in your state. Instead the agents rely on an engineered software system to make recommendations. Those recommendations are designed to make enough money to pay back the investors who poured millions of dollars into the development of this system. If you don't have many health issues, then the software primarily makes recommendations based on "savings" provided by so-called Medicare Advantage plans. In my view the "advantage" in advantage plans goes to the insurer because these cheap plans can end up costing the plan holder a ton if unexpected health conditions occur. It's a problem and anyone who accepts Chapter as a sponsor is part of the overall problem. Just my opinion but I must note that the two experts that I list below both post ads for Chapter.

Geoffrey Schmidt, CPA is a popular YouTube commentator who regularly posts on topics concerning retirement finances. In a recent video on his HolySchmidt! YouTube Channel, Geoffrey covered recent changes to the Social Security program and focused primarily on the issue of overpayments. If you have received an overpayment notice that will cause you hardship then he advises you to act immediately and either request a lower repayment rate (which is currently set at 50% of your monthly payment) and/or file an appeal (assuming the overpayment wasn't your fault.) Look for more details in this video.

Ed Weir is perhaps the most experienced and prolific regular commentator covering issues pertaining to Social Security. As a former SSA insider, Ed's MyGovExpert YouTube Channel is perhaps the single best place to go for answers to questions about Social Security.

In a recent video Ed reviewed Trump's promise in his proposed "skinny budget" not to touch Social Security benefits. He views this as good (no immediate cuts or raising the retirement age) but also bad because it fails to address the long-term solvency crisis. He reiterates that without action, across-the-board cuts (around 21-22%) are projected around 2033-2034, a fact known for decades.

For more of Ed's reactions to Trump's proposed budget pertaining to Social Security watch the first section of this YouTube video.

Clickbait and Scams

"Some Social Security Recipients won't get paid in June"

Many SSI recipients got paid twice during May including a payment on May 31st that basically was an early payment for June that was mandated by the fact that June 1st fell on a Sunday. No one is failing to get paid for June, even though SSI June payments did indeed get sent out in late May.

"Checks to be stopped without MySSA Account"

This is simply not true. If you don't have a MySSA account, then some changes to your Social Security account will be harder to accomplish. Still there is no requirement to have an online MySSA account.

"Will You Get a $6,000 Social Security Check?"

This clickbait headline only pertains to the 3% of participants who were impacted by the recent so-called Social Security Fairness Act. Only certain former government workers have this possibility.

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This is a one man effort to help people understand what is going on with Social Security.

• I track social security payments to a small set of friends who are all Social Security recipients.
• I look over the SSA website availability stats daily.
• I lookout for clickbait and scams pertaining to Social Security.
• I hide any fake or non-pertinent news items.

My intention is to help people keep an eye on the Social Security system without wasting a lot of time doing so.

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