10 Reasons Retirees Will Stop Getting Their Social Security Payments In 2025

Since President Trump's inauguration, America's Social Security program has undergone a veritable roller coaster of change. That includes some recipients being required to present themselves in-person at a Social Security field office for identity verification. That task won't be as easy as in the past, either, because the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is trimming the number of office locations and laying off employees. What's more, paper checks through the mail are disappearing in favor of exclusively electronic payments.

As well, the approximately 70 million Social Security recipients in the U.S. should also be wary of receiving a larger sum of money than expected, because the agency will claw back those funds more aggressively than in 2024, even if it means wiping out future payments in their entirety to rapidly repay the overpayment amount. However, no matter how careful Social Security beneficiaries are about keeping their personal information and other sources of income accurate, there are still numerous pitfalls that could cause some groups to lose their benefits in 2025.

For Americans born on January 2, 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67 years old. However, it's possible to begin collecting Social Security as early as age 62, albeit the payments will be smaller than if one waits until full retirement age. If someone is collecting early Social Security and still working, there are limits as to how much they can earn. Excessive earnings will lead to reduced or possibly suspended Social Security benefits. For example, if you're younger than 67 during 2025 and collecting Social Security, $1 is deducted from your Social Security payments for every $2 earned in excess of $23,400 annually.

Did you know that the U.S. Treasury refuses to remit any type of payments to people living in both Cuba and North Korea. In addition to those two countries, Social Security has its own list of nations where it refuses to send payments to beneficiaries. That includes Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Reportedly, exceptions can be made if certain murky eligibility requirements are met. The good news, such as it is, is that Americans will receive all of their previously-withheld back payments at which time they relocate to a country where the administration can send them. 

Obviously, Social Security payments to an individual will cease when the beneficiary passes away. That said, relatives of the deceased may be entitled to what's called "survivor benefits" under certain circumstances. The particulars of who's eligible to continue receiving the deceased's benefits are too complex for the scope of this article but generally speaking, it's spouses and ex-spouses who meet certain criteria, most children under age 20, and adult children with a disability. Note that spouses can't double dip by receiving their own benefits, plus the deceased. Typically, the surviving spouse will receive whichever is the greater of the two monthly payments.

This was alluded to above, but it's more important than ever that the Social Security Administration has an accurate accounting of your current address, marital status, income, and other pertinent facts. Failing to update significant personal information could result in a suspension or loss of benefits. However, if you receive a legitimate (non-fraudulent) electronic or snail mail correspondence asking for information, consider that an immediate threat to your benefits and be sure to response posthaste. Treating a genuine letter from the Social Security Administration lightly could be a costly mistake. 

It's common knowledge that is a worker fails to pay appropriate income tax on their wages, the IRS can garnish that worker's paycheck to recover the unpaid funds. However, did you know that the IRS can also garnish Social Security payments? It's true, although in the case of Social Security, the levy is limited to 15% of your monthly benefits amount. That might not seem significant, but Social Security represents 31% of the total income of Americans age 65 and older, so even a small reduction in benefits can be meaningful.

If you find yourself or a retired loved one owing the IRS, it may be possible to negotiate a reduced settlement or establish a manageable payment plan. As a last resort, Social Security recipients (or anyone, really) can petition to have the debt classified as non-collectible due to poverty. The debt won't go away and may continue collecting pricey interest and fees, but it won't be deducted from monthly benefits checks if that's priority number one. 

While imagining retirees being imprisoned seems rather unlikely, it obviously can't be ruled out entirely since the Social Security Administration does specifically address that scenario. In fact, there's an entire booklet from the agency called "What Prisoners Need to Know." In that booklet, it's made clear that Social Security recipients sentenced to prison for a term of more than 30 consecutive days will have their benefits suspended while they're incarcerated. Once released, benefits resume in the month following the month in which a prisoner was release. Note that it may be necessary for the released prisoner to notify the Social Security Administration and provide proper documentation. 

With any luck, this article has already emphasized beyond reproach that beneficiaries should notify the Social Security Administration as soon as possible when important lifestyle changes occur. However, that same sense of diligence should be practiced when completing your initial application for retirement benefits. Yes, the application is complicated and can feel a bit like filing your income tax returns. But if you're erroneously paid benefits, or simply paid too much per month due to bad information, the SSA will be metaphorically knocking on your door looking to claw that money back.

Some Americans might be surprised to learn that non-citizens are eligible to receive Social Security benefits in retirement. However, the bar for such a scenario is set fairly high. That is, such non-citizens must be "lawfully present" and meet stringent requirements, like accumulating 40 work credits, which takes a minimum of 10 years. For example, immigrants who have obtained a Permanent Resident Card, otherwise known as a "green card," may fall in the bucket of qualified non-citizens. Obviously if that lawful permanent resident status is lost — perhaps due to marriage fraud, criminal activity, or falsified documents — so too will Social Security benefits be lost. 

It's important to keep your personal information updated with Social Security, but it's also important to make sure that the agency knows where to send your monthly benefits. And by "send," that'll soon mean to your bank account only. That's because paper Social Security checks are being phased out. A recent executive order from President Trump, titled "Modernizing payments to and from America's bank account," dictates that all federal agencies switch to exclusively electronic payments by September 30, 2025.

Before vilifying President Trump, it's worth noting that paper checks are 16 times more likely to be lost, stolen, or returned than a much safer direct deposit electronic payment. Social Security beneficiaries will want to make sure that the agency has their correct direct deposit information in preparation for the upcoming demise of paper checks. Also note that changes to your direct deposit information must be made either online or in-person at a Social Security field office. Because of excessive fraud, changes by telephone are no longer permitted. 

In order to qualify to receive benefits, workers must earn at least 40 Social Security credits over their careers. A maximum of four credits can be earned in a single year, so earning all 40 credits takes a minimum of ten years of work history. Note that earning more than 40 credits in a lifetime won't result in a larger monthly benefit. That's because monthly payments are determined by earnings, not credits. On the other hand, workers with fewer than 40 credit will be denied Social Security retirement benefits during the sign-up process. Admittedly, it's unlikely that a retiree would initially be approved for benefits, then have those benefits revoked on the basis of insufficient work credits unless some sort of fraud or error was later unearthed.