Social Security is an earned benefit. You become eligible by paying the payroll tax during your working years, and the amount you get is geared to your wage history - with a glaring exception.

Social Security has a big birthday coming up next year -- it's turning 90! It's kept many millions of people out of poverty for decades and was recently supporting more than 71 million people with around $1.5 trillion in benefits for the year.

About 3 million retirees would get full benefits in addition to pensions. As a result, Social Security could hit insolvency earlier.

The Senate voted early Saturday morning to repeal two laws that prevent many public employees from receiving Social Security, a move that is expected to weigh on the overall solvency of the Social Security system.

But those who claimed at 62 receive far less. Their average monthly benefit in 2023 was just $1,298.26. Factoring in the 2024 COLA brings it to $1,339.80. And the 2.5% COLA for 2025 will make it about $1,373.30.

The Senate on Saturday passed the Social Security Fairness Act, a bill that would repeal provisions that reduce benefits for some retired federal workers who also get other benefits.

A new bill on its way to President Biden's desk will boost the Social Security benefits for thousands of retired cops, firefighters, teachers and public servants in Texas.

I wrote about the Social Security Fairness Act, a bill intended to give relief to individuals who earned a pension from work outside Social Security and who also had also done other work where they paid FICA taxes and therefore earned benefits from Social Security.