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October 23, 2024
Protective Filing
What is protective filing? SSA protects your rights to file your application when they receive a written request indicating intent to file for benefits. This is typically accomplished by you when you reach out to SSA to schedule an appointment or when you establish your online retirement or disability application. Taking these actions protects your filing options and potential month of entitlement. If you're over age 62 and thinking of filing for your retirement soon, it would benefit you to schedule an appointment and discuss your options with SSA. This can be challenging due to the time you will be waiting on hold or you may experience a polite disconnect due to call volumes. Their appointment availability is usually booked solid, however your filing options would still be protected since they will keep a record of your inquiry. Starting your online application with SSA will also establish protective filing. Initiate your online application and complete the basic personal identifying information until you receive what's referred to as your reentry number. Make a record of your reentry number and then back out of the application. This will also protect your month of entitlement options. At the same time you can reach out for counsel about your application with a SSA professional. This action does not protect your filing options within SSA. You must contact SSA directly in order to protect your options. A written letter of intent to file for benefits will also create a protective filing. This may not be as efficient since mail can get lost and there would not be a digital record you can refer to for your records. How does it affect me? By establishing a protective filing you are protecting your right to your benefits. When SSA receives a protective filing, they take action to close out the inquiry officially. What this means is you will receive written notification that you have 6 months from the date of your inquiry to complete your application with your initial month of inquiry still being an option for entitlement. It provides you with a 6 month window of flexibility for your month of entitlement. For example: A 63-year-old contacts SSA and establishes a protective filing on 05/20/24. They plan to stop work on 07/10/24 but are not certain how their wages are going to affect their eligibility. They believe they need to stop work in order to receive benefits and do not speak to a SSA specialist until 08/05/24. If they speak with a SSA specialist they may be advised that due to their expected earned income for the year they are in fact eligible for benefits to start in May vs July when they plan to stop working. Since they had a protective filing established in May they have the option of electing May for their month of entitlement and receive more SSA at the start of their entitlement than they expected. They can still restrict their month of entitlement to July for a slightly higher benefit rate, but only have the option of the earlier entitlement since they established a protective filing date. Why should I […]
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August 17, 2024
Let’s talk about Widow’s benefits
Am I eligible? To receive widow’s benefits you must be age 60, have been married at least 9 months prior to your spouse’s death (there are some exceptions to this rule), be currently unmarried, provide proof of age, citizenship, marriage, and file an application. When can I claim them? You can file for widow’s benefits at age 60 or as early as age 50 if you are disabled. To be eligible to file for disabled widow’s benefits you must be determined disabled during a prescribed period of eligibility established by SSA. This time frame is usually within 7 years of your spouse’s date of death. How much will I receive? This depends on your deceased spouse’s earnings record and whether or not they claimed reduced retirement benefits on their record prior to their death. If they were receiving reduced retirement prior to their passing and you were also already entitled to reduced spousal benefits on their record, you can elect the reduced widows benefit and the payment will be whatever your spouse was receiving at the time of their death. If you are over the full retirement age for widow’s benefits and your spouse did not elect reduced benefits, a different computation of your benefits is applicable. A general rule of thumb is you will receive up to what the deceased spouse was receiving at the time of their passing. Some wage earners do postpone their entitlement date for this reason. The longer they wait to file, the higher their benefit rate is, which results in a higher widow rate payable to their surviving spouse. What if I had multiple marriages? If you have had more than one marriage that meets the eligibility requirements for entitlement, you could be entitled on all prior spouse’s records. SSA will compute and provide you benefit rates from all eligible spouses and you can select which record you would like to receive benefits on. Filing strategies: Depending when your spouse passes, you have filing options available to you as a widow(er). You can take your own retirement from your own earnings record, and then elect to take the higher widows rate at a later time. You may also elect to take the widows rate first, and elect to switch over to your own retirement record at a later date, this is typically at age 70. Your own retirement record would be accruing delayed retirement credits and that could end up as an even higher rate that the widows rate you originally elected. Can I remarry? If you remarry after age 60 there is no impact on your current entitlement to widows benefits. Some people do choose to delay remarriage to over age 60 for exactly this reason. What about my Medicare? You will be entitled to Medicare under whatever earnings record you are receiving benefits at age 65. Delaying either your retirement or any widow applications for an increased benefit rate will not affect your entitlement to Medicare. If you are still working, the annual earnings limits do apply. Widow’s benefits are a complex entitlement. If you become eligible, be sure the claims specialist […]
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June 21, 2024
SSA updates its debt collection policy
Historically, when an incorrect or overpayment of benefits occurred you would receive an overpayment notice that would demand full repayment within 30 days or your benefits would be placed in full withholding for repayment. Understandably, this could be alarming to the beneficiary who depends on their SSA payments for their monthly bills. If you didn’t agree with the full recovery, you could file an appeal or waiver request of the overpaid funds or negotiate a repayment agreement. The repayment agreement had to be within 36 months or your financial situation would need to be evaluated in order for lower withholding to be accepted. Effective March 25, 2024, if an overpayment occurs your notification will no longer demand full repayment or full withholding but will automatically establish 10% withholding from your benefit for repayment. If you disagree with this, you can negotiate repayment within 60 months without the need for income, expenses, or resources having to be evaluated. Of course some exceptions to this will apply such as when the overpayment was the result of fraud. If you are already in a repayment agreement with SSA that exceeds 10% of your benefit rate, you can request an adjustment in your withholding. Everyone’s entitlement is unique and you can reach out to SSA to see what, if any, adjustments you think could apply to your situation. Of course you still have the right to appeal any incorrect or overpayment occurrence on your record. You can file a waiver, which means the debt will be forgiven entirely if you were not at fault in the creation of the overpayment AND you do not have the ability to repay it. Both of these criteria need to be met for a waiver to be approved. Being found not at fault means you had no knowledge of the overpayment happening and exercised good care and caution in the receipt of your benefits. This means you complied with all of your reporting responsibilities timely to SSA for any situation in which you new or should have known your action or inaction could result in receipt of incorrect payments from the administration. If you disagree with the fact or amount of the overpayment, basically you believe SSA is completely wrong and there is no overpayment, you can file an appeal that you shouldn’t have to repay anything since you believe no overpayment exists. Sometimes this can happen with something as simple as the earnings reported to SSA by the IRS were in fact not wages but other taxable income that is not counted as wages by SSA. In this case scenario, when you provide proof of actual earnings, SSA can adjust the countable wages and that could eliminate an overpayment based the corrected earned income updated to your record. In any case scenario, receiving an overpayment notification from SSA is an unsettling experience. You need to be aware of your options and work with SSA for the repayment agreement that best works for you. Maryellen Eckert EDPNA
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January 7, 2024
What’s New with SSA?
On December 20, 2023, Congress appointed Mr. Martin O’Malley ( https://blog.ssa.gov/martin-j-omalley-sworn-in-as-commissioner-of-social-security-administration/ )as their new permanent commissioner. He is focused currently on reducing long wait times for both in-office and phone inquiries. He will also be addressing the administration’s 25-year low staffing challenges, promoting transparency in operations, and the creation of a common operational platform. It’s that time of year again when the SSA COLA is administered along with all other earnings limits and adjustments for entitlement thresholds. Please see Social Security Changes – COLA Fact Sheet (ssa.gov) for details. This is also a good time to evaluate Federal tax withholding from your benefit or reevaluate the amount already being withheld. You can have your benefit withholding updated by completing and submitting this form: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4v.pdf . SSA does not withhold state taxes. SSA employees are not trained in tax law and cannot help you pick a withholding rate, see your tax specialist for what’s best for you. The general enrollment period for Medicare began January 1st and continues through March 31st. Coverage begins the month after the month of the received enrollment request. If material, SSA will use the postmark on the envelop received as your filing date. Medicare enrollment form: https://www.cms.gov/medicare/cms-forms/cms-forms/downloads/cms40b-e.pdf If you receive retirement benefits and are working above the 2024 earnings limits, now is the time to contact SSA with your estimated wages for the year. This will help ensure your benefits are adjusted accordingly during the year to avoid any incorrect payments. Maryellen Eckert EDPNA
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