3 Reasons Retirees Could Lose Their Social Security Benefits In March

There are a lot of changes happening at Social Security this year — from quickly outdated COLA rates to millions of recipients actually receiving a monthly boost in their benefits amounts. Plus, in early March the SSA announced that the organization would return to its previous policy of immediately collecting 100% of all overpayments from Social Security beneficiaries who might have received a little, or a lot, extra in their monthly benefits checks. One of the most common reasons for these kinds of overpayments is that recipients fail to update their personal information in a timely manner. While the Biden-era policy was that overpayments were simply recovered at a rate of 10% each month, the SSA is playing hardball in 2025. In fact, the SSA is urgently warning retirees that they could lose their benefits altogether if they fail to comply with certain guidelines and/or don't communicate significant lifestyle changes.

At a basic level, personal information can include things like marital status or a current address. However, more relevant information to the organization could also include changes in a beneficiary's income, particularly for Americans who continue to work while collecting benefits. With these changing policies now in place, let's break down three specific reasons you could end up delaying or even losing your Social Security benefits this month. 

As previously mentioned, updating your personal information can ultimately be a broad category with some serious consequences. According to the SSA, its benefits payments comprised about 31% of the total income of those over 65 in 2024. As such, retirees will definitely want to be diligent about keeping their personal information accurate to avoid a lapse in payments, or worse. To update your information to reflect life changes like getting married or moving, perhaps the easiest method is to open a "my Social Security" account, assuming that you don't already have one. Once logged in, you can update your profile to reflect your latest personal information. Note that existing online accounts that were opened before September 2021 will need to transition to the new portal first.

Something else that retirees may not be aware of is that the SSA sometimes conducts "residency verification checks." If a beneficiary isn't living at the address provided to the SSA, their benefits may be suspended until the address discrepancy is resolved. Knowledge of this policy is particularly important to retirees who own more than one residence, like snowbirds who flock to warm climates like Arizona or Florida during the winter.

In addition to accurate personal information, the SSA also wants to ensure it has an accurate portrayal of your income. This is particularly important for seniors who may have decided to collect Social Security benefits before reaching full retirement age, but who are still working. For example, workers collecting early Social Security benefits can only earn $23,400 in 2025 before penalties to their benefits amount will kick-in. Failing to disclose income in excess of this amount can result in the SSA immediately taking back any overpayment amount or even temporarily suspending your benefits.

Once again, concerns over supplemental income while receiving benefits or living arrangements can be resolved directly with the SSA. Ferreting out abuses in Social Security payments is an admirable goal toward putting the program on firmer financial footing, but don't let your legitimate benefits get interrupted or cancelled because of bad personal information.