January 2025 brought good news for most first responders in Illinois. The adoption of the Social Security Fairness Act eliminated two provisions of the law that negatively impacted Social Security benefits for people who work in government jobs not covered by Social Security. Now, your Social Security benefits and rights are the same as every other working American.

Because benefits have increased for the majority, either on your own record or newly available on your spouse’s record, the strategy of how to claim this benefit has taken on increased importance. In fact, there is a generally used phrase to describe this as “Social Security Claiming Strategies.” Put those words in an internet search engine and you’ll find hundreds if not thousands of articles on the subject.

Nobody at IPPFA is an expert in this topic. There are 3,000 Social Security benefit and eligibility rules, plus administrative law and court decisions. But we can explain some of the basics.

Social Security benefits are computed to be paid at the “Full Retirement Age.” For people born in 1960 or later, that age is 67. If you draw your benefit before that, you take a reduction of as much as 30% at age 62 (the earliest age you may draw). You also have a limitation on how much money you can earn in wages when you draw before age 67. In 2026 the limit is $24,480. If you earn wages over that amount, your next year’s Social Security is reduced by $1 per month for every $2 you earned over the limit.

If you delay drawing your Social Security until after age 67, your benefit is increased at an annual rate of 8% once you begin. You can delay as late as age 70. These reductions and increases using a Full Retirement Age benefit of $1,000 look like this:

At 62 $ 700

At 63 $ 751

At 64 $ 800

At 65 $ 869

At 66 $ 933

At 67 $1,000

At 68 $1,080

At 69 $1,160

At 70 $1,240

What about a Spousal Benefit? With the change in the law, fire and police are also eligible for a benefit from their spouse’s Social Security record if one-half of their spouse’s payment is more than their own benefit. The impact of this change will vary greatly from family to family. For some, there is no improved benefit because the spouse’s own Social Security earnings are not high enough to create a Spousal Benefit. This will be true for police and fire members who are covered by Social Security at work.

On the other extreme, if the spouse had many years of professional level earning in Social Security, there could be a big impact on the fire/police retiree’s monthly Social Security payment. Note that a Spousal Benefit is also available from the record of an ex-spouse if the marriage lasted at least 10 years.

How do you sort this all out? There is some good news; when you apply for Social Security you provide both your information and your spouse or ex-spouse’s information. The SSA will calculate the benefits available under both records and provide you with the information necessary to make a selection.

Many people ask, what’s the best age to draw Social Security? As I noted, there are many articles written on this subject, as well as internet postings and YouTube videos. As general advice, we can say if you need the money, draw the benefit. If you don’t need it, consider delaying for months or years (but not past age 70!) to increase your benefit for the rest of your life.

Is professional advice a good idea? Yes. These decisions are now more important because your own benefit is higher and you could possibly obtain a Spousal Benefit. So a professional review is not a bad approach. Many financial advisors have software to help sort this out. If you have a relationship with a financial advisor, ask if they can help with Social Security claiming strategies. If the answer is yes, this is available to you at no cost.

Also, there are two services we have tested that looked pretty good and cost up to a few hundred dollars. This is not an endorsement, but you should take a look at:

• MaximizemySocialSecurity.com. This is a website of a Boston University professor and author on benefit maximization. Their personal Social Security analysis is recommended by Terry Savage, the nationally syndicated columnist.

• SocialSecurityAdvisors.com. This service has very complete reports on claiming options plus the opportunity to speak to an expert.

Note that some Illinois police and fire professionals are in Social Security at their public safety jobs. So while there are really no big changes for you in the recent law changes, how to claim Social Security is a particularly important matter for you.

Summation. For those of you who have fire or police careers not covered by Social Security, you may still earn Social Security benefits from your own record or possibly earn a benefit from your spouse’s record. Anyone can check their record at Social Security by opening an online account at ssa.gov.

Increased benefits and expanded options are now available thanks to the Social Security Fairness Act. Your benefit will still be lower than most other workers because you spent up to 30 years outside of Social Security. But it can still be a meaningful part of your retirement income. You can enhance that benefit by paying a little attention to how you claim the benefit.

Daniel W. Ryan, June 2026, Illinois Public Pension Fund Association (IPPFA), dan.ryan@ippfa.org.