U.S. News & World Report | Social Security Fairness Act: What It Is and Will It Affect You

Published: January 10, 2025

“The WEP (couldn’t) completely eliminate that Social Security,” says Martha Shedden, president and co-founder of the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts. The maximum reduction was about $600. But the formula used for the GPO was different. “That (could) entirely eliminate those benefits, especially spousal benefits,” according to Shedden.

Newsweek | New Social Security Law May Face Problems Under Trump—Economist

Published: January 9, 2025

Martha Shedden, president and cofounder of the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts, told Newsweek: “The level of chaos and cost to the SSA that implementation of this hurried passage of a two-year old proposal, will be tremendous. This January 2023 bill was proposed with a start date of January 2024. With no amendments made, or even considered, an entire year of retroactive payments is now – in January 2025 – required.”

CBS News | Social Security Fairness Act signed into law by Biden, enhancing retirement benefits for millions

Published: January 7, 2025

That said, the new law does not address the “tremendous financial impact on the trust funds and the challenging [Social Security Administration] implementation procedures that will be required,” said Martha Shedden, president of the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts.

Newsweek | Some Social Security Beneficiaries Could Get Hit With Higher Tax Bills

Published: January 6, 2025

Martha Shedden, president and co-founder of the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts, told Newsweek: “The Act will increase the payments of those affected by the repeal of the WEP and GPO rule. This will include a retroactive payment back to January 2024 up to the time SSA begins issuing payments and then monthly from that point on.”

CNBC | Here are big changes retirees can expect from Social Security and Medicare in 2025

Published: January 4, 2025

The legislation marks the biggest change to Social Security since certain couples claiming strategies were phased out in 2016, said Martha Shedden, president of the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts. “We’re sort of in limbo as to how that process will proceed, when people will see that increase and how the retroactive [benefits] will be applied,” Shedden said.

Newsweek | Social Security Benefits Increased for Some Americans: Here’s Who’s Impacted

Published: January 3, 2025

Martha Shedden, president and cofounder of the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts (NARSSA), told Newsweek: “H.R. 82, known as the Social Security Fairness Act of 2023, will do away with the WEP and GPO pension rules that affect the amounts of Social Security some individuals can collect … The WEP and GPO rules apply to certain government, state, local jobs—often teachers—who are receiving a pension for their work in those jobs, but their employers do not contribute payroll taxes into Social Security.”