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Social Security Overview

TRSL members (excluding Plan B members) do not participate in Social Security, so they are not eligible for Social Security benefits through their TRSL-covered employment. However, some members may be eligible for the following Social Security benefits:

  • An earned benefit is paid to people who worked at other jobs where they paid Social Security taxes long enough to earn a Social Security benefit. 
  • A spouse's or widow(er)'s benefit is paid to spouses or surviving spouses of Social Security pensioners if those spouses did not work long enough under Social Security to have earned their own benefit or their earned benefit is less than their spouse's benefit.  

Social Security Offsets

The Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82) repealed federal provisions that previously reduced or sometimes eliminated the earned or spousal benefit for individuals who receive pensions from a state or local government.

These changes are effective for benefits payable after December 2023.

Because these were federal provisions, all questions about reductions or the calculation of benefits payable after December 2023 should be directed to the Social Security Administration. The Social Security Administration’s webpage on the Social Security Fairness Act can be found here.

It’s important to remember that your TRSL benefit was/is not reduced or impacted by federal offsets or the elimination of those federal offsets.

To learn more about offsets, please review our FAQs.

Need more information?

To contact the Social Security Administration, you can call toll-free at 1-800-772-1213 or go to www.SSA.gov.

Beginning Jan. 6, 2025, SSA started requiring appointments for visits to local Social Security offices. To find the phone number for your local office and make an appointment, please click here.