Social Security's 'round down' policy costing us money - anyone else noticed this?

It's actually in the Social Security Act itself - benefits must be rounded down to the next lower dollar. Been that way since the beginning. I've worked with SS benefit calculations for years and while it seems unfair, it's literally written into the law. The actual calculation of your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) involves several rounding steps, and this final one is just part of the process.

omg i never noticed this!! just checked my direct deposit and yep they rounded down my 65 cents too!! how is this legal???

This happened to me too! I think they do it because its easier for their accounting or something. Probably some outdated system from when they started SS in the 1930s and couldn't handle pennies lol

I understand your frustration, but there's actually a historical reason for this policy. When Social Security began, all calculations were done manually, and rounding down simplified the process. The law was written this way to make administration easier in a pre-computer era. Even though we now have computers that could easily calculate to the penny, changing this would require Congress to amend the Social Security Act. Given how carefully they guard every dollar in the trust fund, I doubt they'll change a policy that saves them money, even if it's technically our money. For what it's worth, when they calculate COLAs (Cost of Living Adjustments), those calculations are done on the full unrounded amount before the final rounded-down figure is determined. So at least the cents aren't completely ignored in future calculations.

Has anyone tried ASKING for the full amount including cents?? Ive been on SSDI for 3 years and never even noticed this. im going to call tommorow and demand my 67 cents!!

I had the same frustration when trying to reach SSA about my own benefit calculation issue. After countless failed attempts and hours on hold, I found a service called Claimyr that got me through to an agent in about 20 minutes. They basically wait on hold for you and call you back when an agent is ready. Saved me so much frustration! If you want to see how it works, they have a video at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU and their site is claimyr.com Though honestly, even when you do get through, they'll just tell you the rounding down is required by law. I tried arguing about it but got nowhere. The agent explained it's actually written into the Social Security Act itself.

My uncle worked for the SSA for 30 years and he always said its just easier for their computer systems to not deal with change. Probably saves them millions in programming costs lol

To clarify some misconceptions in this thread: 1. The rounding policy isn't about computer limitations or accounting simplicity - it's explicitly required by Section 215(g) of the Social Security Act 2. This policy predates computers and was implemented in 1939 3. The funds aren't "skimmed" in the sense of being separately collected - they simply remain in the Social Security Trust Fund 4. Changing this would require Congressional action to amend the Social Security Act 5. While it does add up to millions across all beneficiaries, it represents a tiny fraction of the total fund disbursements (less than 0.01%) While it may seem unfair that rounding always goes down, remember that many other government programs round to the nearest dollar (up or down). Social Security is somewhat unique in consistently rounding down.

this reminds me of that office space movie where they took all the fractions of cents that got rounded off lol 😂 except this is the government doing it to us

While the rounding down is frustrating, I'd suggest focusing on more significant aspects of your benefits. For example, make sure you've explored all possible benefits you're entitled to (spousal, survivor, etc.), and that your earnings record is accurate. Those factors can make a difference of hundreds of dollars monthly, compared to the cents lost to rounding. Also, ensure you understand how working affects benefits if you're still working, and how taxation of benefits works if you have other income. These factors have a much bigger impact on what you actually receive than the rounding issue.