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On January 5, President Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act that repeals the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provisions of Social Security, retroactive to January, 2024.

These provisions affected individuals (and beneficiaries) who receive a pension from a job that was exempt from Social Security tax withholding, and who also worked for at least 10 years in jobs for which those taxes were withheld.

WEP

WEP impacts certain public sector workers at the federal, state and local levels whose retirement systems are not part of the Social Security system. This often includes police officers and firefighters.

When you work under Social Security, your benefit is based on the highest-paid 35 years you worked. For the years you worked outside of Social Security, your earnings are given a value of zero. This has the impact of reducing your Social Security benefit substantially when compared to a worker who did no work outside Social Security.

Naturally, if a worker receives a lower Social Security benefit, that also impacts the spousal benefit and survivor benefit based on his/her work record as well. So, as a result of WEP provisions, spouses of workers who receive a pension from work exempt from Social Security have also been receiving lower benefits than spouses of workers who do not. read more

By ALAN SUDERMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The price of bitcoin topped $100,000 again early Friday as a pumped up cryptocurrency industry expects early action by Donald Trump when he’s sworn in as president next week.

Once a skeptic who said a few years ago that bitcoin “ seems like a scam,” Trump has embraced digital currencies with a convert’s zeal. He’s launched a new cryptocurrency venture and vowed on the campaign trail to take steps early in his presidency to make the U.S. into the “crypto capital” of the world.

His promises including creating a U.S. crypto stockpile, enacting industry-friendly regulation and event appointing a crypto “czar” for his administration.

“You’re going to be very happy with me,” Trump told crypto-enthusiasts at a bitcoin conference last summer.

Bitcoin is the world’s most popular cryptocurrency and was created in 2009 as a kind of electronic cash uncontrolled by banks or governments. It and newer forms of cryptocurrencies have moved from the financial fringes to the mainstream in wild fits and starts. read more

By STAN CHOE, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — What’s shaking Wall Street seems so backwards.

Swings in the bond market recently sent the yield on the 10-year Treasury above 4.80% and its highest level since 2023. That’s injected nervousness into the U.S. stock market and knocked indexes off their records.

The bond market’s moves might seem strange given that the Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates three times starting in September. But it’s a reminder that markets care more about the future than the present. And the bond market is worried about potentially higher inflation ahead, along with a U.S. economy that may not need more help from easier interest rates. That’s hurting stock prices.

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple is suspending an error-prone feature that used artificial intelligence to deliver bogus news alerts to some iPhone owners.

The decision was disclosed Thursday as part of a test version for the next software release, iOS 18.3. The beta version is only available to a relatively small group of iPhone users and developers, but the same features are usually released in an update available to all users several weeks after the testing begins.

In the beta update, Apple said it is disabling the AI-generated feature for news and entertainment while it tries to fix the issue causing the technology to fabricate information — a problem often described as “hallucinations” within the industry. Similar software updates for Apple’s iPad and Mac computers are also in a testing phase.

Even if it is just temporary, the suspension represents a blow to Apple’s efforts to bring AI to the iPhone and its other products. The push began in earnest last September with the debut of the iPhone 16, which is equipped with the computer chip needed for a technology the Cupertino, California, company calls “Apple Intelligence.” The premium iPhone 15 models from 2023 also contain the AI processor. read more

By MARCIA DUNN

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX suspects a fire may have caused its Starship to break apart during liftoff and send trails of flaming debris near the Caribbean.

SpaceX’s Elon Musk said preliminary indications are that leaking fuel built up pressure in the cavity above the engine firewall. The resulting fire would have doomed the spacecraft.

On Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered SpaceX to investigate what went wrong. The FAA said there were no reports of injuries from Starship debris.

The 400-foot Starship — the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket — launched from the southern tip of Texas on a test flight early Thursday evening. The booster made it back to the pad for a catch by giant mechanical arms, only the second time in Starship history. But the engines on the still ascending spacecraft shut down one by one, and communication was lost 8 1/2 minutes into the flight.

NEW: INCREDIBLE views of Starship 7 breaking up over Turks and Caicos tonight read more