Money

I am now truly scared; I rely totally on my social security retirement monthly check. What happens if these two outside the system choose to end that? They've ended other programs within 20 days; what happens if I end up on the street with only a blanket and a bag of dirty clothes? Guess done...

 My FRA  will be in May 2025 but I plan to keep working. My ex spouse is 2 years younger than me and still working.  Can I collect SS from his account in May while working, then switch over to my account when I fully retire, or am I stuck with his amount?  We were married 24 years, so I know I'm eligible for some of his portion but I've gotten different answers when I call SS. 

   I would like to make everyone aware of  a recent scam someone tried to pull on my husband and I when we were trying to sell our 2019 Toyota Tacoma.  My husband had his truck advertised on several car selling websites.  He received a call from an interested buyer at 8 o'clock one evening.  The man seemed very motivated and asked if he could come see the car that night.  My husband thought that was an odd time to be shopping for a car but agreed when the guy said he was leaving town the next day and really wanted to see it.    Two young men arrived about an hour later.  My husband and I had taken some safety precautions but the men seemed non threatening.  They took it for a short test drive around the block.  When they came back, they asked to look under the hood.  My husband popped open the hood and just then, one of the guys asked him to come to the back of the truck so he could show him something he had a questi

The link:NBC NEWS 02/06/2025 - Trump administration agrees to restrict DOGE access to Treasury Department payment systems  It is temporary and has some exceptions.  Back to court again later in this month. from the link ~U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly signed off on the agreement Thursday morning. The agreement will stay in place until she rules on the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction, which will be the subject of a Feb. 24 hearing.

My mother in law is a widower who turns 60 this month 2/21Her Husband passed 7/2015 and he was born 10/27/1960We called SSA and they told her she was eligible to claim SS against her passed husband for $2000 a month.My mother in law currently works a full time job at $50k annually and doesn't want to stop it.Sounds like the income restriction is $23,400 Here's where I'm confused...If she continues to make 50k they only hold $1 for every $2, meaning she gets $24,000 a year from SS, and (50,000-23,400=26,600/2=13,300) and gets to keep $36,700 from her 50k job to total $60,700? That's question number 1, is my math right.Question #2 is if they withold approximately $13,300 a year until she reaches FRA, will she ultimately ever get that money back? Or is that $13,300 a year they kept just gone. 

Someone has three life insurance policy on my elderly father and the insurance company won't tell me who opened them. I think his landlord did it because the address was in his old apartment he lived in down Stairs .  We found out because another company sent him a Letter letting him know that the insurance company was hacked and asking if he wanted free identity theft monitoring because of the hack. Right now I don't know what to do.  Can someone please help me with this matter. 

Integrity o AARP. Already known for years that Hartford has been paying you for years AARP. Do not ever try to lie to more than thousands of people AARP.

Do NOT EVER THINK THAT AARP CAN EVER DISCOURAGE COMMENTS THAT I HAVE MADE ABOUT HARTFORD PAYING AARP TO SPONSERthem.  That would be difficult-Let’s HAVE AARP WHICH IS A SUPPLEMENT TOUNITED HEALTH CARE  EXPLAIN. Please review the comments relating .  Now I’m going after the disgusting people that paid a serial fraud scum $8,000 .hartford whoever did not like me because I did not ever back down-I have every rite to look and question.  🙋‍♂️ I hope AARP WOULD WANT HONESTY WITH THEIR MILLIONS OF MEMBERS

 I have seen contradictory information about this question online and don't find anything on the SSA website that addresses it. I am 75, the high wage-earner, and started collecting my benefits at age 70.  My wife is young and will have only a small benefit on her own earnings.  Assuming I am still alive when she reaches age 62, she will apply for her benefits of which the spousal benefit will be higher than her own.  So, the SSA will automatically give her the spousal benefit.  Now, I very much want her to wait until her FRA of 67 before she starts collecting the widow's benefit so that she gets all of my delayed retirement credits.  However, some info sources claim that upon my death the SSA will automatically switch her to her survivor's, since there will be no more spousal benefit.  I however want her to wait until her FRA, which would mean that when she loses the spousal benefit she would revert to her own retirement benefit to preserve the

Had a false tax return filed on Jan 27th, if you have not created an IP PIN with the IRS you are at risk.  Per the IRS it will now take over 345 days for them to investigate the fraud and up to 3-4 years before we get our refund. Get to the IRS site and do a search on IP PIN and create one for anyone that has an SSN for tax purposes, that way the number is only known to you and the IRS and is required when you file your taxes, you need to get a new IP PIN every January to protect yourself from someone filing a false tax return under your SSN.Our SSN's  were compromised by the recent WA State DOT hack so protect your account NOW. AARP should have run an article about this to warn all seniors about this issue and how to help protect yourself.

Just FYI You can apply for retirement benefit up to (4) months before you want them to start.  However if you are applying for EARLY retirement benefits you must take certain timing into consideration. You must be at least age 62 for the entire month to be eligible to receive benefits. If you were born on the first or second day of the month, you meet this requirement in the month of your 62nd birthday. If you were born on any other day of the month, you do not meet this requirement until the following month.You can apply up to four months before you want your retirement benefits to start. For example, if you turn 62 on December 2, you can start your benefits as early as December. If you want your benefits to start in December, you can apply in August. If you turn 62 any day after December 2, you are not age 62 for the entire month of December. You can start your benefits as early as January when you are 62 for the entire month. If you want your benefits to start in Janu

This is the Social Security Calendar for 2025 benefits payments -This is normally the date that SSA pays the benefits but it could show up in your bank account a day or so before or after depending on if it is a holiday. SSA.gov - Schedule of Social Security Benefit Payments 2025  The footnotes at the bottom of the page will tell you when to expect your monthly benefit in 2025 based on your birthday if only receiving a Social Security Benefit - either the 2nd, 3rd or 4th WEDNESDAY if the month, If receiving only Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or a combination of SSI and Social Security it is paid on either the 1st or the 3rd of the month depending on the actual benefit type you are getting.        

Attention, Fellow AARP members:I want to bring to light and important issue regarding the possibility of the income tax being replaced by a national sales tax system, which could have a significant implication on our financial well-being, particularly for retirees or near retirees.Many of us have diligently saved for our future, often paying substantial income tax on our earning's over the years. However, under a sales tax system, we could face additional taxation when we spend our already taxed savings. This means every item we purchase with our hard-earned money could be subject to a new layer of taxation effectively taxing us twice.Consider the following points: Roth IRA which have been touted as tax free will be taxed. Selling personal property or items will be taxed again when you spend the cash. And if FICA is included, we pay FICA again. It crucial that we understand this and make our voices heard for our own sake.      

Have any of you bought a telikin computer, and if so did you like it and was it worth the price?

Long story short - we pull our statements every January. The latest statement (2025) shows that my wife is now back down to 39 credits when she had 40 credits on the previous two statements (2023 & 2024). She is a Texas teacher which doesn't pay into SS, so she gained the necessary credits when she took a hiatus from teaching. So recovering the missing credit might require a part-time job (ugh!) Has anyone else had this happen to them regardless of your work situation? Looking for some context. Thank you.

I keep search I no and they say it is at AARP but cannot find it.

An easier-to-read version: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1o67G3iZojC-GvpTEfN8hQSAuR483N6WJ?usp=drive_link

It's just come to my attention (or maybe I forgot about it) that there is the "Social Security Handbook". It's available online as a pdf on the SS Administration's web site, https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.html I've never received but It looks a lot like the the Medicare Handbook I get in the postal mail every year. Is this something that all SS recipients are given? It seems a lot bigger than the Medicare Handbook. And I see bound copies for prior years available for sale. Walmart shows an upcoming 2021 Edition (to be available in May) for $85, https://www.walmart.com/ip/Social-Security-Handbook-2021-Overview-of-Social-Security-Programs-Paperback-9781641434850/182486753?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0 So, is something we get in the mail once we apply for benefits? Thanks.  Edit:   well, to answer my own question, apparently the answer is "no". The Handbook states: "Is The Social Security Handbook Available In Pape

     The increase of 2.5% for Seniors this year, was an unfunny joke.   Medicare ripped us off for more money, and Medicare Advantage raised Co-pays across the board.  Can't afford it, Congress say's, as well as the Senate.  Then How can this Government give Billions to other countries constantly ??   They do not have the guts to change the "Formula" for Social Security.  It's to hot a Topic in Washington.  They can't take a chance on not getting re-elected, with pay raises on the horizon.  They can spend Billions on illegal aliens, but not Seniors.  Third World Countries look after their elderly better than the United states.  The plan is to make excuses.  That is always the plan.

I am hoping for a couple of things:1.  If this new found bounty + their other income puts them into the Medicare IRMAA territory that they are NOT given a 1 X wavier for this. 2.  That no stupid politician does away with the taxes on benefits - we need all we can get and at least get some of this back into the Trust Fund. A new update was posted today - doesn’t sound like this is gonna be a very swift process  https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/social-security-fairness-act.html  

There is an update on the SSA site on this matter:  I am just posting this as a courtesy. https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/social-security-fairness-act.html    

Looking at the current inability of Congress and the disposition of the incoming administration to actually address the SS trust fund depletion in the next 8 to 10 years, does it not make more sense to start taking benefits at 62 (even though they are reduced) versus waiting until FRA and in all likelihood get the essentially the same amount you would of got at 62? Back of the napkin math, My FRA amount is $3700/m, @ 62 it's 2700/m  or roughly 30% reduction from FRA.  In those 5 years I will have collected $162,000.  Now if Congress doesn't act swiftly (and let's be honest here, they don't seem to have an desire to), the ability to fix the SS funding will have disappeared without some radical change (again this is Congress we are talking about).  So it probably more likely we will cross into the reduced benefits territory.  Once that happens, Congress will just too bad and move on. So now those who waited until FRA to collect will see their benefits r

Hello:   I'm interested in purchasing a book on Medicare (first time enrollee)Spoiler (Highlight to read)  , preferably one that is updated annually, like a copyright 2024 copy?  Does anyone have any firsthand use suggestions?  I'd like to stay away from websites, they seem to authored by insurance brokers; I know of the "Medicare and You" info from the SSA. I attended a 1 hour webinar, I'd like to get more details on the specific Medicare "parts" (a,b,c,d, etc.)Thank You.

First off, I am very sorry that many people seem surprised and shocked over the WEP or GPO if they are affected by either of these when they retire.  On the other hand, I understand why this formula reduction is there and the concept seems fair.  Is the current WEP or GPO reduction formula correct for those whose benefits are being recalculated because of them - I don't know.  I do know that the previous method of calculating benefits for these folks was not right -  so going back to the previous method is really out of the question.  So there either has to be a new formula which will still not give a full benefit or a totally new concept. I have come up with a possible solution and wanted to run it by the folks here to see what you think? Why not give these government  / civil employees, on an individual selection basis,  the option of staying within the Social Security system by allowing the person to pay their own payroll withholding

Background information:I'm currently 66-4 months and full retirement age is 66-8 months. My wife is 55. I retired 2 years ago and my wife will be retiring in 2 months. We both are collecting decent pensions.Here's what I wanted to do.  I wanted to wait to 70 to start collecting SS benefits mainly because I wanted my wife to collect the amount of my benefit at 70 if I were pass away before her.At what age will my wife be eligible for my 70 year old benefit?