10 Things That Can Hurt Your Social Security Payments

Defaulting on federal student loans

Thanks to a U.S. Treasury rule, debt collectors for credit cards and other consumer accounts can’t garnish your Social Security benefits. However, that protection doesn’t extend to debts owed to the federal government. If you have defaulted on federal student loans for yourself or loans you took out for a child, up to 15% of your Social Security benefits could be withheld to pay off the debt.

As bad as a reduced benefit sounds, it could be worse — like getting no benefit at all.