By any measure, 2020 has been an extraordinary year, what with a pandemic, sputtering economy and the alignment of Jupiter and Saturn, a once-in-a-millennium event. By those standards, the changes to Social Security are far less dramatic and won't cause major disturbances.

Still, it's important to be aware of them, seeing as how for the average wage earner, Social Security makes up some 40% of their pre-retirement income. Each year, the Social Security Administration adjusts the amounts of benefits retirees receive, how much income is taxable for Social Security purposes and how much beneficiaries can earn before having some of their benefit withheld.