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Social Security … Help!
I am coming up on my 66th birthday in January, and because of the clear economic disasters on the horizon, I’m ready to hit it running so I get back at least some of my Social Security “investment.”
When my wife took Social Security several years ago, she found the process too crazy for her brain, and after making her choices, including what Letter Medicare option to choose, she complained after the fact about how she was stuck with things that were not the best for her.
I thought it would be a good idea to schedule time with a Social Security expert in my local, small-town SS office. Like most things here, even the DMV, you don’t have to go through a lot of bother to get an appointment. (Just because I’m 65 doesn’t mean I have learned my lessons.)
So I looked up their office hours and drove there. The doors were locked. In fact, a sign said you have to make an appointment by calling an 800 number. (There was no way to get anyone’s attention in that location.)
So I called the number and it was the main national number and therefore it had an extra long, waste precious time of your later life, messaging system, so I hung up and searched for a local appointment number for my small city, and actually found one, still an 800 number, and called it and maneuvered my way to a point where I could be put on hold for the “next available representative” and I waited through really bad music for the next instance of “your call is important to us, please wait” and then more crap music and then several more iterations of “your call” and music and “your call” and music and “your call” and music and “your call” and music and more than 30 minutes went by when, suddenly there is a different sound like the phone being answered and then silence.
Silence. And like a dummy, I waited more than five minutes to accept the fact that I had been disconnected, because I was too stupid to realize that I had not taken the hint that nobody wanted to be bothered by an actual human being in need of government services since our government servants have changed the rules, and they are getting tired of serfs bothering them in their cocoons of non-accountability waiting for their own generous pensions and retirement, and what incentives are there anyway for them to actually help people?
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So, for those of you who have suffered through the transition to getting Social Security and Medicare, what Do’s and Don’ts have you discovered? Any advice for a silly one like me entering his dotage?
Or should I put more energy into writing the Great American Novel, inventing a vastly popular little timesaver to generate massive disposable income for the rest of my life? Or become a flim-flam salesman for placebo life-changing supplements?
I am meeting with my private financial planner next week to talk about the best time to retire and for the best time for Mrs. O’Shea and I to take Social Security.
When I got a late tax bill from the IRS last year I tried calling the number listed and had the same experience as you – long hold followed by a hang up.
I tried twice more.
Eventually, I just paid the bill. To this day I don’t know what I forgot to declare.
I expect these days, it’s pretty hard to get any government worker actually on the phone. In my past, I did have good experiences dealing with a small Soc Sec office (Prescott, AZ – they had a small staff, like 5 or 6 people at that time, sometimes the office manager answered their main phone!) but so many government “workers” are “working” from home now, and when you call the national 800 number you likely don’t even get someone in your STATE, let alone your town/city.
One tactic that did help, though, when I was having trouble getting through to someone at the crowded and busy Phoenix office about fixing a problem, was FAXING the local office every 10 minutes, until someone called ME.
The local offices may not have direct phone numbers that they want you to know about, but they usually have individual fax numbers that aren’t too difficult to find. If you jam them up enough, maybe waste enough paper (if they’re actually still using paper for faxes), eventually you might get a response.
The “Epoch Times” has a routine column by a former SS administrator who answers questions. The latest column is here: https://www.theepochtimes.com/what-to-do-when-the-ssa-steers-you-wrong_3969064.html
I’m finding the SS website FAQs and attached point papers to be pretty thorough in answering my simple questions about the application process and effects of other pensions, military service, etc. What that site will not provide is advice on when to apply – that should probably some from a financial planner already engaged in your retirement planning. The offered meetings are usually to provide some free advice but mainly to try and recruit you as a client.
I am in the middle of the same thing. I have a stack of mail about a foot high from people who want to sell me Medicare plans.
Luckily we have a local county-run “office of the aging” or something like that. I called, got friendly advice and instructions about how to sign up for a SSA account and register for Medicare A & B. Once I have the cards, I’m to call back and make an appointment and she will guide me through the complexities and arrive at the best solution for me.
She said to toss all the mail – we can do everything they want to do for me right there in her office, free of charge.
I didn’t have to wait on hold at all, but I wasn’t dealing with the government, who are useless.
File immediately and take the SS money. If you don’t need it, open a savings account and put the money in there each month. Don’t touch it. You can still work and earn up to a certain dollar amount – a little of 17K I think. Hopefully you have some retirement savings and/or investments. You will save money on medical since now you can get Medicare. Ask your friends or colleagues for a referral or go on line (and look at the ratings) of local Medicare folks that can walk you through it because It is very complicated and you’ll be bombarded with mail ads of what to do. I also opted to have any supplemental payments on a credit card each month rather than my bank account.
I am new to all starting this year. I found a very good person (in FL) to help me thru the Medicare thing. He and I through a conference call filled out everything on line. He answered all my questions and offered advice to help me pick what plans would work. You can also change your plan each year if you don’t like it. In other words, if you pick supplemental insurance which I did, who to go with, the cost, do I want dental, etc. Don’t try to do it yourself – but get the ball rolling on SS. You can just call. I did not visit an office. As soon as you say I want to apply, they do it over the phone and your payments begin the month you call and make the decision. I get direct deposit.
You need to set up a log in to your SS so you can see what you will receive on what dates – for example you’ll get X amount at 65, X amount at 66, X amount at 67 – but take it now – it’s not worth it to wait unless you make a lot of money at your job and don’t want to retire. But you are still eligible for Medicare at 65. I didn’t want any medical bills wherever I go so I got a plan that takes care of all of it. I’m not on any meds and healthy so far – but am now catching up on all check ups and we’ll see what happens. Good luck!
I waited until I was 67 to draw, both for full benefits and so that there would be no penalty if I continued to work. There’s not a limit on how much you can earn and still draw, but you have to pay taxes on the SS income, though at a reduced rate.
The IRS is worthless. I am still owed my refund from 2020, but no one will answer a question regarding refunds, and the website says they have no information. I don’t even know if they received my return. I am not looking forward to SS, but I will check and see if a county service is available. Thanks for the tip.
Once upon a time I had a dust-up with the IRS. It came to nothing, but I did walk away with the business card of an honest-to-God flesh and bone IRS Revenue Agent. A year or two later I received one of those nebulous tax bills and tried calling the number listed. I had the same result you did.
But I thought “Aha!” I have the phone number of a real person. I’ll call them.
They were very friendly and accommodating. They said “ There should be a code number in the top corner…let me have that please.”
I found it and read it to them … thinking “Now we’re getting somewhere”.
I could hear them tapping away at their computer keyboard. There was a pause.
Then I heard “Hmmmm”
WTF? “Hmmmm” is my line. I called to get answers. Not “Hmmmm”
They apologized saying that the file just says that my “taxes had been recalculated” They had no more idea what the issue was than I did.
Thankfully, it wasn’t much money, so I just paid. I honestly think that they just spin the big wheel and then send bills for that amount to random taxpayers.
I’m not yet 65, but I can see it from here. What I have heard from older relatives is that while the Medicare Advantage Plans are less expensive, once health issues begin to set in you are better off with traditional Medicare and and a Supplemental Plan. That the coverage and choices are much better. Everyone who had Medicare Advantage switched once they had health issues. But you can only switch during an enrollment period, so you can get stuck with some bills in the year you discover that Medicare Advantage wasn’t for you.
Admittedly, that’s hearsay. I have no firsthand knowledge.
Appreciate all the responses. Thanks!
If you can wait until your full retirement age do it. It’s worth the wait.
In our case, I waited until my full retirement age but my wife took hers early. When I go to the other side of the grass, she gets my full SS payment.
As for Medicare, luckily, we don’t have to mess with it too much since we have a Medicare Advantage from my civilian retirement plan plus Tricare since I’m a military retiree. Of course, both of us have that Medicare monthly fee subtracted from our monthly SS check.
Good luck.
That’s the same reason I just went ahead and paid.
I think it makes a difference – or at least it used to – if you deal with an “enrolled agent” or whatever a newer term might be. They seem to have options to actually change things, not just look them up and maybe be able to explain.
Build a simple spreadsheet to figure out how long you have to live to make more money by waiting versus taking the lesser money now.
When I became eligible for my state pension at age 55, the decision was pretty easy (I worked for the state for 7 years early in my career). I could have waited until age 65 and gotten an extra $20/month (or something like that), but I would have had to live to age 138 before the gross amount of the higher payment would have exceeded getting the lower amount earlier.
The last time I worked out the numbers, it seemed like if you take Social Security “early” at 62, it would take 7 years from when you would have reached the regular age – which is up to 67 for some people – for the higher amount to cover what you would have gotten earlier. And that’s not 7 years from NOW. That’s 7 years from when you turn 67. So add 5 to 7, and you get a total of 12 years. (12 years from early retirement at 62, until you WOULD HAVE paid off the early-retirement amount you get for 5 years.) A lot of people end up not living that long to start with, but even if you outlive that, the “opportunity cost” of not taking the money earlier can be high. Even if you just took all the “early” Soc Sec money and used it to buy Krugerrands or something.
I reach “full” eligibility at 66+4 months, and max at 70, but the difference in monthly amount is not worth waiting given inflation and high-risk FRNs. So taking at 66+4 and buying gold and silver makes sense.
I waited to get full benefits because like CACrabtree, my wife will get my full benefit if I die before her.
Here are some things that I learned when I hit full retirement age two years ago:
I don’t remember signing up for either SS or Medicare to be difficult.
Thanks, Kevin!
Signing up is not the problem. Making wrong choices, especially Medicare choices, upset my wife.
Luckily, my wife and I didn’t have to face all those choices but maybe your state has something similiar to Ohio to help with choices:
https://ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/site/residents/resources/free-unbiased-help-with-medicare
My reccomendation s to get a broker for the Medicare stuff. And completely agree on getting traditional Medicare with supplental insurance. Advantage looks cool until you are actually sick and then the deductabals can be ruinous – remember when you first sigh up you can’t be denied insurance but if you choose to switch from Advantage to traditiona Medicare, you can be denied and have to go with a more expensive plan. A good broker will be able to guide you thru that…
Yup. When the Social Security person called to verify my application, she was very nice and even noticed I had opted to start receiving benefits a month later than I could at full retirement and asked if I wanted to change that. When I said I did she did it on the fly and wished me a good day and happy retirement. I was pretty impressed and happy I spoke with her. It was also a little scary just how much information she had on me and at her finger tips…
I signed up online. Seemed easy enough to do for me. When to sign up was easy. We had heard it all, when to sign up, what we would get, etc. In the end, none of that mattered. When I turned 65, I was kicked out of the military family practice and forced to find a provider in the civilian world. Also, they kicked us out of Tricare Prime and into Tricare For Life which requires Medicare Part A and B. Medicare Part A and B required a monthly payment. I had a choice on how to pay for that, lower my standard of living or go on social security and let the government pay my co-pay. I have no regrets and don’t care that I get a little less a month. What I get is enough and I am happy. I didn’t need a supplemental plan or drug plan because Tricare for Life functions as a supplemental plan and a prescription drug plan. I can’t address those things. I have no complaints about Medicare after these past few years. The few copays I have paid were reasonable. I am happy with no bad experiences.
On Medicare, you need to consider your current and future personal health status.
After 6 years, I still haven’t signed up for Medicare part B. My health insurance (BC/BS) continued after retirement. If I filed for Medicare, I would have paid premiums of more than $10,000 over the last 6 years. My health is pretty good, so mainly what I’ve paid out of pocket consists of $25 or $35 co-pays 4-6 times per year, and meds for blood pressure and a few other issues amounting to maybe $100/year.
If I do need to file for Medicare because of future health issues, I’ll have to pay a penalty on the premiums, but I’ve saved many thousands so far, so I’m not concerned. I have so many acquaintances who say “I kept BC and got Part B, and pay nothing for any medical visits/procedures.” I just say, well, this year you pay $148.50 a month (above your insurance premiums) for the ability to say that, so I hope it’s paid off for you.
Hm. BC/BS booted me when I turned 65.
No, please!
Rather, “..so you get as much as you can out of the program.
We should not pretend that we are only trying to get what we deserve, or else we will deliver a permanent victory to the socialists, who have methodically programmed us from infancy, for 90 years, to think that way.
I worked full-time until age 71, when Covid restrictions decimated the aerospace industry and I was forced to retire. Shortly thereafter, Hubby was also forced out of work, and he is 9 years my junior. I lived on my severance for awhile, then gave up and applied for Medicare and SS (which I had vowed never to do if I could help it). He kept his work health insurance (retiree coverage), and I pay my share of the Medicare supplement that goes with his plan. When I spoke to a very nice SS lady, she told me that I would be getting 9 months of “back SS” payments, which was a nice chunk of change for me to pay taxes on last year. I have an ample amount of SS every month, even after the Medicare deduction, and I will pay my share of Hubby’s plan. He starts his pension next month, but is still too young for Medicare, so we are well-covered. I considered a Medicare Advantage plan, but have decided to keep with traditional Medicare for the time being, as the Advantage plans have narrow networks and change every year. I know that my doctors accept traditional Medicare, so it’s the easiest plan and I think I’ll be staying with it.
I am working a temp job right now, and those earnings definitely help with the expenses. So far, it is supposed to last to the end of September and maybe into October, but there is no firm end date in sight at the moment. I told the boss I’m available for however long they need me. Since I’m already “retired”, I don’t have any deductions for retirement or other benefits, so I keep most of my earnings.