WASHINGTON — Hundreds of thousands of Americans 65 through 69 will no longer lose Social Security benefits because they keep working.
"This should be a happy day for Americans of all ages today because a very good thing has been done for the future," President Clinton said as he signed a bill eliminating the Social Security earnings test.
Clinton said the earnings cap "made some sense in the Great Depression when the nation was desperate to find jobs for young workers with families and the unemployment rate was 25 percent."
"Conditions today could hardly be more different," Clinton said. "The economy is booming, companies desperately need more workers. Older Americans have the skills and the experience that businesses need."
The bill was approved without dissent by an election-year Congress. "For too many years, America's working seniors have been getting penalized," House Speaker Dennis Hastert said.
The repeal is retroactive to Jan. 1 and directly affects 800,000 Social Security recipients who are working this year and another 100,000 who haven't sought benefits because they have jobs. With the earnings test eliminated, each of these people could receive an additional $6,700 in Social Security this year.
Because the repeal is retroactive, about 415,000 working seniors or dependents will get refunds for the money already deducted this year from their Social Security checks — a total of $1.4 billion or an average of $3,500 per person.
In signing the bill, Clinton also unveiled an Internet service offered by the Social Security Administration for younger Americans who want to get an online estimate of future retirement benefits.
"Our new Internet service will accomplish step one of retirement planning, helping workers to understand the amount of Social Security benefits they can expect," said Social Security Administrator Kenneth Apfel.