Social Security Benefits/Retirement Lesson

[trapster]

If you are married.....better hide some cash! My X left me in 17 and all she wanted was the money!

Retirement accounts (401ks etc.) are more difficult to run off with than cash in a mattress. But then again political parties are eyeing these things to solve budget shortfalls. fortunately it would be political suicide to attack these.

 

[One Bullet Barney]

If you are married.....better hide some cash! My X left me in 17 and all she wanted was the money!

I have an almost ex .. lawyer and won't sign the papers.
53 years of a lifetime sentence no parole.. I never knew saying I do was a crime

 

[Bodyperson]

If you are married.....better hide some cash! My X left me in 17 and all she wanted was the money!

Why did she wait so long

 

[Cranky]

Why did she wait so long

That's what I thought!! Took me several months to know that I actually came out ahead! Thought about giving her more just as a 'thank you, glad you left'!!! lol

 

[Bodyperson]

That's what I thought!! Took me several months to know that I actually came out ahead! Thought about giving her more just as a 'thank you, glad you left'!!! lol

Thats exactly what my good friend said... should have done it sooner. LOL. 25 years he was miserable.

 

[One Bullet Barney]

I always send the groom a sympathy card.

 

[melcardona]

not s

If this helps even one person in our aging hobby, this post will be worth it. I'm planning on retiring for good, as I turn 65 in January and I've only got so much time left to "enjoy" life. Yes, that means working on my Duster and I know my username implies I'm younger, just shows how long I've had it, lol. Anyways, I had planned on retiring on my ~ birthdate, 26 Jan. however dealing with the Social Security Administration (SSA) has changed those plans slightly. To log in to SSA and initiate the retirement benefit, you must use Login.gov or ID me. To establish your Login.gov account, a driver license picture is used to capture your name for the account. If DL name doesn't exactly match (e.g. Tom vs. Thomas) your SSA records, you can't authenticate with SSA. This hasn't been an issue with any other agency, only SSA. Your only option at this point is to schedule a telephone interview, mine was 6 weeks out from the original request. On the current schedule I won't receive my first benefit deposit until late February. Since I'll need the SSA benefit to supplement our household income, I'll have to wait to give my current employer notice until med-February. When you've mentally made the decision (for me about a month ago), working a couple of more months kind of sucks. My recommendation FWIW, ~6 months before you plan to retire, create you're Login.gov account and try and access SSA to create an account. If successful submit, your retirement application 2-3 months out, with a requested benefits begin date. If unsuccessful (like me), then you can request the phone appointment which will be 6-8 weeks out based on my experience. Just one of those things I would have liked to know beforehand.

not sure about mo...but here in tx i can go to any of the ss offices by just making a appt on line....1 wk wait.....................but you are correct on getteing ducks in line .....in advance.....is apart of the game

 

[George Jets]

I went through the same BS with MN online registration and driver license thing then it locked me out. Had to call the 800 number then 3 months out on the appointment for them to call me on my Birthday month.

Then they screwed that up on the appointment day, luckily I was able to call the SS Burnsville Minnesota office for the appointment. Got a lady there and she took care of everything in 15 minutes, including enrolling me in Medicare.

Don't get suckered into Medicare Advantage programs or you will be pissed when you need them.

Such a pain in the ***, fortunately I had done all of my own research and knew exactly what I needed to sign up for. And none of the extra government program extras that are of no benifit.


☆☆☆☆☆

 

[mayhem]

We do, but I asked that question and was told no, because of the authentication issue. Didn't make sense to me, maybe a scheduling thing? I'll drive by on the way home, pop my head in the office and see what they have to say, lol.

I can't speak to your local office but if it's anything like the field office here, they stop in-person service at 4 PM. They open at 9 AM and if you're a 'walk-in', you have to take a number and wait in a DMV type lobby for one of the few Customer Service Reps dedicated to people who don't have an appointment. I will say I've also never had a bad experience with SSA.

 

[abdywgn]

I always send the groom a sympathy card.

we always whispered "another one bites the dust".

 

[Cranky]

Yup I think you are correct. ACA comes into play before 65 so there is that. It all depends on informed individuals and this thread is working on that.

ACA? If someone Medicare.....why does ACA come into play?

 

[middleagecrisis]

not s

not sure about mo...but here in tx i can go to any of the ss offices by just making a appt on line....1 wk wait.....................but you are correct on getteing ducks in line .....in advance.....is apart of the game

So I drove by my local office and after about a 10 minute wait got to talk with a representative. She said that they can do actions such as issuing replacement Social Security cards and other such administrative actions. However, any starting of benefits has to occur through the main website. This is why when I spoke with the helpdesk, I was told that I couldn’t take care of starting my benefits at the local office. Here again, excellent service at the local office and the representative advised me that I would need to provide a original certificate of birth or a certified copy for the interview. She said to bring all the forms required for the interview by the office and she would scan them into my e-folder (my words) and have them ready for the interview on 27 January. This is the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God! Looks like my best path forward is to get all my documentation ready to go for my January 27 interview.

 

[Cranky]

Retirement accounts (401ks etc.) are more difficult to run off with than cash in a mattress. But then again political parties are eyeing these things to solve budget shortfalls. fortunately it would be political suicide to attack these.

A halfway decent divorce lawyer can dig into a 401. Mine was a IRA and well, 'she' got it in return that I kept my house (owned it for several years before we got married along with some cars, my tools, cars and some furniture).....furniture that I hated anyways.....

 

[66fyssh]

@middleagecrisis. Great idea to create an account early. There is no time too early. I'm 62 and created an account many years ago. They have neat graft that allows you to slide the date of retirement and see how the monthly benefit changes.

 

[66Signeto]

What also helps in these situations is having a current passport. Saved my father a good bit of headache. Our local (and previously very busy) SSA office was unfortunately closed earlier this year so it's about a 2 hour drive to the nearest one now. Those folks are usually helpful but obviously very overworked so pack your patience.

 

[Workingdog1]

The system does work with a caveat or two. I retired early at 62 filing for SS and my pension December 2022 to start January 2023.

Both payments started on time. After realizing I may qualify for a disability SS Pension in 2023 dating back to December 2021 I began jumping through the hoops. I hired a retired Advocate who had dealt with SSA for years.

After eventually finally winning the disability award through SSA there was NO increase in monthly stipend through SSA.

My Advocate was working with SSA and getting nowhere and said basically via email " We need to contact our local Congressman ".

I was Pissed Off. What's this We ****. The Advocate is getting a portion of some monies.
I bit my tongue and after being ******* Pissed Off for a couple of weeks wrote a carefully crafted letter to my Congressman Vince Fong.

I went to Congressman Fongs office in Bakersfield, Security for office building with multiple tenants, Security for Fongs office, talked to an aid, presented my case and concerns, turned original letter addressed to Fong over to an aid.

Went to ATM 4 days later to move money around to pay bills.

I won the ******* Lottery kind of. Back Pay from when disability started end of 2021.

I emailed my Advocate same-day on Saturday asking if she was paid as I had been. No but responded Monday she was made whole.

My monthly benefit increased but the process was a chore jumping through the hoops ( Doctors, interviews etc. ). SSA plays the odds I feel sometimes hoping you'll croak, give up or if you're fraudulent run out of BS.

Stay the course, follow though and worst case contact your Congressman.

 

[JDMopar]

@middleagecrisis I retired 4-1-23 and did exactly as you said. I retired at 65 1/2 and my full benefit eligibility was 66 1/2. Instead of reinvesting my 401K dividends like I had my whole life, I took them the last 2 quarters I worked. I used that to live on until I started SS at 66 1/2 at full benefit. I started 2 months early and didn't have the troubles you had. I even went to our SSA field office and got an agent to double check to see if I did it all correctly. I had to get a form from the company I worked for stating that I had health insurance after age 65, before I could get on Medicare. I worked for the largest investor-owned utility in the USA at the time.....and they told me they had never heard of such a thing. I was running out of vacation and told the HR lady she needed to figure it out RIGHT QUICK, or they were going to be paying me for another month, since I had to retire on the first day of a month, and I wasn't planning on working. Funny how fast she got that form sent to SSA and my Medicare was started...lol. I sincerely hope that all of y'all that are retired or soon to retire enjoy it as much as I am. Having 6 Saturdays and 1 Sunday every week is nice!

 

[mopowers]

I've often wondered- If one does not need SS to supplement retirement, are they better off pulling once eligible at 62 and simply investing that income, vs. waiting until max benefit age? One of these days I'll actually crunch the numbers but I'm sure there are some here who already have, right?

 

[crackedback]

I've often wondered- If one does not need SS to supplement retirement, are they better off pulling once eligible at 62 and simply investing that income, vs. waiting until max benefit age? One of these days I'll actually crunch the numbers but I'm sure there are some here who already have, right?

I'll throw this out there. If your full retirement benefit at 67 is 1428 and you pull it at 62, you get 1000/month 70% of full benefit.

You'll collect 60K over those 5 years. If your two payments don't change at all, it would take 140 months to catch up, almost 12 years. At 79 you'd finally be flat with early payment approach.
If you invest those 60K payments in something that grabs 5-8%, it pushes the catch up point out even further. That $1000/monthly into 7% annual return boosts the amount to 73K, 14.25 years to catch up, now 81+

You can extrapolate the numbers for your situation. Former finance guy nerd math... LOL

 

[mopowers]

I'll throw this out there. If your full retirement benefit at 67 is 1428 and you pull it at 62, you get 1000/month 70% of full benefit.

You'll collect 60K over those 5 years. If your two payments don't change at all, it would take 140 months to catch up, almost 12 years. At 79 you'd finally be flat with early payment approach.
If you invest those 60K payments in something that grabs 5-8%, it pushes the catch up point out even further. That $1000/monthly into 7% annual return boosts the amount to 73K, 14.25 years to catch up, now 81+

You can extrapolate the numbers for your situation. Former finance guy nerd math... LOL

Thanks. That's probably the route we'll take when it's time.

 

[Demonx2]

One additional consideration too for Medicare. Sign up early (3-4 months) so when the time arrives, it will start on time and you will have the necessary ID cards, etc. Get your Supplement/Rx or Advantage plan all signed up too. That all went smoothly for me until...

About 6 weeks before your Medicare start date, they'll send you a letter and bill telling you how much you'll pay based on your tax return from 2 years prior. I retired 2 years prior to Medicare eligibility and took a buyout to do it. Oops...that buyout figured into my income for the tax return they use to figure your income-adjusted cost (IRMAA). And it's a steep add-on monthly cost! There's a form you can fill out to appeal and say you retired and your current income is much less, etc, etc. THAT takes some time too. So if they finally agree to what you've explained, they'll revise your IRMAA, you'll exhale, and think you're finally all set.

Nope, then you get the bill for the next year's Medicare/IRMAA. And they do not link the fact that you had retired, and just communicated with them and convinced them of it, as they simply use your "2 years ago tax return" with no logic applied. No linkage to the battle just waged. So you get to go do the appeal battle all over again! Oh, and the clock is ticking for your payment due date for next year's cost.....

So start early, and if you have to do an appeal, perhaps see if they can do this year's and next year's cost based on when you retired. It might save both sides a lot of work!

 

[melcardona]

I've often wondered- If one does not need SS to supplement retirement, are they better off pulling once eligible at 62 and simply investing that income, vs. waiting until max benefit age? One of these days I'll actually crunch the numbers but I'm sure there are some here who already have, right?

your spot on!!!! take it as fast as you can.........the simple math proves the longer you wait the less you receive before your 6 ft under....

 

[trapster]

A halfway decent divorce lawyer can dig into a 401. Mine was a IRA and well, 'she' got it in return that I kept my house (owned it for several years before we got married along with some cars, my tools, cars and some furniture).....furniture that I hated anyways.....

Yep, but, My ex hid everything and denied its existence for a 3 year battle. But she couldn't hide her 401k's , so it works both ways.

 

[Cranky]

Yep, but, My ex hid everything and denied its existence for a 3 year battle. But she couldn't hide her 401k's , so it works both ways.

Best way to hide money imo is to buy gold and put it in a safe place.

 

[barbee6043]

My wife wanted to wait till her 70th birthday to start to draw SS. I did not agree, but her choice. She started the "procedure" 60 days prior, with on line, on phone and in person hands on. She got her first check on time, 3 months later. End of month. I trust they figured it correctly, I have seen them NOT! and want $ back!!!!!!