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There have been several posts and commentary in recent months about potential changes to social security, the consequences of the removal of the Windfall Elimination Provision, anticipated issues because of the President and DOGE, etc.
I posted on May 21 that my spouse was going to schedule an appointment with the nearby social security office and file. (There are 14 in this state, and our area population is about 1.2 million). Here is how it went.
1. Wait times on the phone can be long, but the Social Security (SS) office will schedule a call-back. G used that service.
2. She was able to schedule an appointment about 5 business days in the future.
3. She did some preliminary work on the SS website and began the registration process there.
4. She brought documents with her, including two government issued photo IDs and the checking account so she could schedule ACH (automatic monthly deposit).
5. She changed her Medicare payment from ACH withdrawal from a checking account to debit from her SS monthly payment.
6. She completed the necessary documents for a spousal benefit. One issue was she didn’t have a “certified” marriage license with her. Copies will not do. She contacted the County office in which we were married and the necessary document was Fedexed (at cost to us).
7. She decided to back-file to November 2024. This resulted in a significant lump-sum amount as a one-time payment.
8. She selected her percentage automatic withholding for IRS federal tax payment. We had pre-discussed this. There are several options, ranging from 7% to 22% withholding.
9. She switched from monthly Medicare ACH withdrawal from checking to debit the SS benefit.
So, how did it turn out?
1. The online calculator we had used when discussing when to file was very close to the actual amount. That calculator has been discussed in previous HD articles.
2. Upon receiving the marriage certificate she scheduled an appointment to submit it as evidence to SS and complete the spousal benefit forms. She got an appointment two days hence. She presented the certificate, SS made a copy and she was done.
3. Five days after the meeting her lump sum payment of benefits on her own record arrived in the checking account.
4. There was no chaos, near trauma, wringing of hands, etc. as predicted by some.
5. Overall, it was a very positive experience for G. Because of her public pension she never expected to get a stipend even though she exceeded the SS rules. SS income is a bonus for her.
6. G has been shuttling back and forth across the country for about 7 years to care for her father and now her mother who is in an Alzheimer’s facility. Ro also has a care giver 6 days a week. The travel is expensive; each trip is about $5,000 for 10-14 days of travel, and there are multiple trips each year. I’ve taken the position with my spouse that she can spend any amount necessary and I’ll deal with it in the budget. Her SS benefit will reduce any financial pressure because of this travel. Funny how things sometimes work out.
Well, we had 2 wildly different experiences.
My wife applied last year for SS. Did the whole thing online. Piece of cake. Prob less than 15 mins start to finish and fully approved maybe 6 or 7 business days later. Since then, direct deposits have been seamless.
And then I applied for Medicare (without SS) this past March and our luck ran out. Online application indicated I needed to produce my “original” birth certificate and I could mail it in (never going to happen) or request an office appointment.
I’ll cut to the chase. After 6 – 8 phone calls and 2 in person visits to the local office over 6 weeks, I was finally approved. I received several different explanations depending on whom I talked to that day but the most likely one was my DOB was wrong when originally issued back in the early 1960s. Apparently back then a birth certificate was not required and mistakes happened. It only became an issue 60 plus years later when I actually applied for a benefit. Fortunately, even though approved in May, coverage was effective in April and covered some pricey surgery.
Lessons learned. SS is a huge bureaucracy. Your benefit may be crucial to you but may not be the most important thing to the rep at SS. Everyone I spoke to was very nice but I got a lot of bad info and assurances re the status of my application that just weren’t true. Second, the DOGE impacts are real. On my second visit, the rep told me they were supposed to have 11 customer service reps on duty and only had 4 due to the early out offers and retirements /resignations from employees that had just had enough. Lastly, trust but verify. If I hadn’t followed my application and its progress online and made repeated calls after seeing no progress, I’d still be waiting for a resolution,
@Richard Layfield
What were the four options they offered for tax withholding from your SS payments?
Yes! (and congrats on a smooth process)
I always wonder how much of what we hear about in the “chaos around the corner” stories, are user error. I seem to remember that at one point, the number one solution for people calling in for tech support, was plug in the computer.
Probably closely followed by reset.
First, I created my Social Security online account. On the day I turned 66 (my FRA), I went in person to the SS office to file for ex-spousal benefits. This was in NH, not crowded, no appointment necessary, just take a ticket and wait to be called. I’d searched online ahead of time to know what documentation to bring. As I recall, it took a while for the staff member to go through everything, but there were no hitches and the payments began arriving the next month.
Then when I switched to my own benefit at 70, I was able to do that online.
I find it incredibly ironic they won’t accept a copy of the marriage license for their files, yet make a copy of it for their files.
They scrutinized the original. It has foil and other anti-copy technology similar to bank checks. A social security employee [accepted] it as authentic. That’s the important step.
Our marriage certificate is from a foreign country. I wonder how that would be received.
Glad to hear that others have had positive experiences with filing for Social Security benefits. My wife completed her application for initial benefits a few months ago and it went similarly well. Her only glitch was the communication of when her initial benefit would be paid. Eventually it was paid on a Date close to when promised and it has arrived timely on the same date each month. Her application was done about a year after FRA. I haven’t applied for my Social Security yet, choosing to wait to increase monthly benefits.
Great, informative post, Norman! Thanks for describing the experience and documentation required as my wife will be doing this in a few months. Can the entire process be done online, or is a trip to the SS office now required?
Yes, it can be completed online. Not sure about the marriage certificate as a printed copy is unacceptable. Our county has a multi color certificate with foil anti-copy protection.
Thanks Norman. Will have to check into the certificate thing. Ours is black text on off-white paper.
Dave, I did this process a month ago and was able to complete it online. I received my first check very quickly, and they automatically took the Medicare premium from that check. I did have to call them afterwards to start my tax withholding from the amount, and as mentioned, they provide you with four options as to how much you want to withhold from each check. Painless and surprisingly straightforward.
Thanks Richard. Good to know.