In 2025, a lot of things will be different. But for Social Security, some of the most important changes have already been happening for four months. Right now, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is updating its online resources so that people who get benefits and people who will get benefits in the future have more choices about how they get information about their benefits.
Changes to the way Social Security works
As we already said, the changes began earlier this year when the “my Social Security” account was moved from the old server to the login that most government offices use for safety reasons. This change within the SSA made it possible for some of its processes to be brought up to date and made easier for Americans to access and use.
The COLA notice is one example of this. The SSA sends out notices every year in December about the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) that payments will go through in the new year. This notice used to be printed, and it still will be this year. It was long because it had all the important details that recipients needed to know for the next year. It will be easier to read and find this year because the notice will be put online in the “my Social Security” account.
This new way of putting the paper together—on a single page and in clear, personal language—will help people who get benefits understand any changes, like the COLA. It will have important information like exact dates, new benefit amounts, and any reductions that apply.
The “my Social Security” account has also been changed to let people choose how they want to get the rest of the important messages throughout the year. In the past, paper was the only way to get the information. From now on, beneficiaries will be able to choose how they want to be informed when information is added to their account.
They will be able to choose between email alerts, text messages, or both. This will help users stay informed more quickly and directly, making sure they are aware of all changes appropriately and promptly. One major reason for the changes is that mail gets lost due to wrong or incomplete addresses or other outside causes.
Aside from that, just because mail is brought doesn’t mean it will get to the right person. This has caused many people to miss important messages. After bad things happened to many, they had to call the government to try to fix a problem that shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
The last big change that the portal is making is that papers can now be shown online without a hard copy and signature being needed. It will make getting benefits easier and faster by making it easier to show the right paperwork.
By making the user experience better and making information simpler and shorter, the SSA’s changes show that they are committed to openness and easy access to information.
Making the switch to the new online site was also done to make sure that security would be better. While the old platform worked fine for what it was meant to do, the new one lets users do more, such as signing and showing forms that give beneficiaries access to more benefits.
This means that more private information could be stolen. The new change will make the “My Social Security” site safer and better protected in case of a breach.
