Money

Recently I was informed by a Social Security representative they would hold several months of my supplement now based on projected income earnings over the Federal mandate of allowed annual earnings outside of Social Security rather than wait and see if I earn that amount. Is this a true thing? Is that how it is done?

----Scam Alert - Fake Numbers Appear On Your Caller ID----Caller ID Spoofing----Government website - FCC----Link doesn’t work, just Google:----“FCC + Caller ID Spoofing”

How do I get a message to Rob Tannenbaum, the author of What I Learned After Hackers Attacked Me and Stole $4,000? From reading the article, it looks like he uses an online password manager. I just wanted to let him know if he was using LastPass, they were hacked over the past year and it appears the hackers have been able to crack into password databases. He never mentioned if he ever figured out how he was compromised. But this is one way it could have been done with no obvious breach on his side.  

Hello, my husband and I were assessed this adjustment for 2024.  It was because our AGI dramatically increased due to the sale of real property in 2021.  We've been told that the adjustment CANNOT be reduced unless one of eight life-changing events occurred, which are listed and explained on formSSA-44.  None of which apply to us.  Certainly that can't be situation.  Our assessment was made because we filed our 2022 tax return in October as opposed to April, and the assessment was made based on our 2021 tax return.  Does anyone have any experience like ours?  Many thanks, and best wishes!

I don't see anything on the subject posted here, but to my understanding when you have no one to take care of your final wishes, you apparently hire an attorney for this (Your executor).   To what kind of take on the estate is one looking for them to take, about a third?   I believe if it goes this route the attorney is entitled to a higher rate of your estate than the standard executor fee. 

I was completing the retirement calculator at https://www.aarp.org/retirement/retirement-calculator/. After answering the last question on the page about our expense expectations in the future it wasn't very clear how to proceed.  The only option was to scroll further down the page where there was an option to continue after advertisements.  I clicked on this and then there was some message about donating clothing.  I continued again and then received a pop from a bogus Windows Defender telling me my computer is frozen and to call a phone number for assistance.  The message also stated not to restart my computer as I could lose my information.  Well, I wasn't calling the phone number and my computer is fine after I restarted. Rather annoyed that after logging into AARP and trying to complete the calculator I ran into this issue.  Also found the page I was on before the subsequent bogus message to be confusing

I am a US citizen who lives on a fixed income in Jalisco,Mexico. I receive SSDIand live from month to month. Every year there is a form 7162 that needs to befilled and returned to social security, in my case since I live in Mexico we sendthe forms to the FBU federal benefits unit.These offices only communicate through email. On February 2nd, I received an email that my benefits were suspended. Along with the email was the Form 7162, that the FBU offices shouldhave sent me weeks ago. Instead they waited until I was suspended and then sentme the forms. I returned the form yesterday to the local US consulate office.This form does have to be filled out every year, but the time of the year differseach year, so knowing exactly when its due is something that the office wanted me to guess.Instead they haven't emailed me anything since November of 2023until they tell me my benefits are suspended. Now because of their error, I facea financial emergency. There are no outreach programs in Mexico f

Inflation bumps up benefit payments — but not the income thresholds that make them taxable. By Andy Markowitz. Published February 06, 2024. https://www.aarp.org/retirement/social-security/info-2024/benefits-taxes-cola.html 

 I was born the first week of May in 1958. According to SSA, I can start collecting 100% of my benefits January of 2025--66 & months is when I qualify for 100%. When I put in the date to start collecting my benefits, should I state January 2025 as the start date or February 2025? I don't want to start it a month early and be stuck with less than 100%.  I'm sure this question has been addressed before many times, but I'm not finding a post that directly answers my question.

IRS tax code offers perks to taxpayers of a certain age. Published January 19, 2024. By Patricia Amend (a lifestyle writer and editor for 30 years). https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/info-2024/tax-breaks-after-50.html 

I applied for social security on 1/1/24. My application is still in the review process even though the ss website says 2-4 weeks. I can’t call or email anyone in ss.  I want to give notice at work but I’d like to hear something from ss beforehand. Am I just overly impatient?

Greetings. I am retired but not yet collecting social security, which I plan to do when I turn 67 in about 4 years. I use some retirement planning models which have you look up you projected benefit amount at age 67 and put them in the model. In 2023, this amount was approximately $3500 on the My Social Security website. I logged on to the site a few days ago and this number is now about $3650 per month. I know there is a COLA for when you are actually collecting social security but I was not expected my project amount to go up. This might not seem like a big different but over more than 20 years it is significant and if this happens again the next three years before I start taking benefits, it would be a relatively large increase that I would want in my retirement planning now. Thanks for any assistance. 

I wanted to switch service for 3 existing phones on an active ATT account to Consumer Cellular. Contacted CC and set up an an account. Provided the IMEI's for the 3 phones. The agent assured me the phones would work with CC. Inserted a CC SIM card in one of the phones (Samsung S8, unlocked ATT phone). Text and data worked but could not make or receive calls. After going through several agents, I was told the phone was not compatible with CC and would have to purchase a new phone. What a scam. I was basically lied to. I tested the SIM in several other unlocked ATT phones (another S8 and S9+). Same symptoms, no voice calls in or out. I did find the SIM worked in an unbranded international version of the S8. My suspicion is CC (or ATT) is blocking unlocked ATT phones on CC's system.

I am retired but still have some ESPP stock from my last two employers. I know that when I sell these ESPP shares the 15% discount I received will be deemed "ordinary income" and as such I will need to pay federal and state taxes. My question is do I also have to pay FICA on this as well?  I have no other "earned income", just dividends and social security, so no FICA due on those.   

I have received a couple of emails since the new year began that have piqued my interest.  I thought I would share in order to get some feedback while I investigate further. One claims to be from my State's Office of Taxation inviting me to attend an online webinar about state tax returns.  The message source of the email looks legitimate and I will be calling the Tax Office, but I wondered if anybody else has received invitations like this from their home states.  A few years back I decided to try faxing my returns to them.  The phone number I got from the web site had an area code from a state that is thousands of miles away so I called to verify it. The other one claims to be a notification to participate in a class action law suit against Verizon Wireless.  Again, the message source looks legitimate, but I'll be doing more research before attempting any contact and I was wondering if anybody else had recently received anything similar?  If it

I am the higher earner and also older spouse. I am older by 4 years. Our plan was to wait until I turn 70 to receive the maximum benefit. A year after that my spouse would reach her FRA of 67 and her benefit. She would collect 1/2 of my benefit with a GPO deduction. This is higher than her own benefit. All fairly staright forward. Someone mentioned to me that she could start collecting now (she's 63) her reduced benefit and then switch to my higher spousal benefit when she reached her FRA at 67. Sounded like something we should look into. I called my local social security office and was told that was phased out a few years back. She would be stuck at the benefit when she first filed at 63. Can anyone provide any insight. Mike

Saw a "Free $2 bill ad in the latest 'AARP bulletin.  I Googled BBB and the advertisers name and was stunned by the volume of complaints about this company.  Worse, the nature of the complaints told me this was NO COMPANY that should be advertising in the AARP Bulletin if it was serious about fighting entities that take advantage of seniors.  I think everybody reading the Bulletin casts a jaundiced eye towards almost every single ad, but WHY is AARP not running BBB checks on these advertisers?  If they have dozens of complaints from people, why would AARP allow them to advertise if it wasn't just all about the ad revenue? 

3 comments (1/22/23) I had never paid attention to the area our Social Security Numbers are printed on our YEARLY Social Security Retirement STATEMENT until last week when I received this year's copy in my MAILBOX. I guess I was not paying attention since retiring July 2020. I am signed up to get everything ONLINE, but for some reason they INSIST on mailing ONLY this to my apartment address. I can see the ONLINE version, so why mail me a PRINT COPY? Hmmm, suppose a dishonest postal worker opens the envelope which is obviously just 1 sheet and from the Social Security Administration. Suppose our mail gets stolen or delivered to the wrong person. I would have thought using the usual x's would protect us. Example, xxx-xx-1234. ➡️  To reply, click on reply button at bottom of this post. Enter your text. Click reply button again. ⬅️ Thank you,Nicole (Social Security Forum)

I applied for SS retirement benefits on August 17, 2023. At that time I also applied for disability but to be honest I wasn't hopeful for that. My retirement is at step one of 3 and my disability is chugging along. When I applied I checked a box stating I wanted to get my retirement benefits while I was waiting for a disability decision. So after 3 months I called in and was told I didn't apply for retirement benefits. When I log into my SS account both applications are listed. She told me I would get a phone call in 2 months. I waited a couple of weeks and called to check to see if she changed anything and the person told me again that I didn't apply for retirement. I called the local office intending to go in and just get this straightened out once and for all and she told me that they aren't doing it in person but gave me a phone number. I called that and the man gave me the phone number of a case manager. I must have left 10 messages and never heard back. I don't know what to do. A

I applied for Medicare part B during the last week of December to presumably begin in January.The SS website says my Medicare premium should be $174.60 but the check I just got has a medicare deduction of $339.60. I have no Part C or D with medicare. Would I be correct in assuming that the reason the premium is this big this month is because I was billed for both January and February and that starting next month the premium will revert to the $174.60 amount? 

 Hello, Can someone please help me sort out my medicare premiums problems?  Here's the issue.  After working for a company for 44 years I retired in Feb 2022 at the age of 64 and received early retirement severance pay for the remainder of the year .  The severance covered income and  COBRA health insurance payments for 2022 since I also lost company health insurance.Upon turning 65 in Jan 2023 I applied for medicare.  They said my premiums would be over $500.00 per month because of my 2021 income.   Mind you, I did not work or earn any income in 2023 and will not in 2024.  They're stating I still have to pay the high premium because they're now looking at 2022 income.They look at 2 years prior income instead of current year income.  Can anyone provide advice on how to proceed?Thanks.🤔

With about 2 year left on a 20 year policy, we know the rates will go up - quite a bit being 68 in 2024. What alternatives do we have? Take out smaller policies of a smaller denomination?Can I sell our policy and cash it out like shown on TV?Renew the policy as my current age verse 70? Anyone had to think about this and what they came across in assessing this type of scenario? Thanks.

We went with Hartford Insurance two years ago because it was associated with AARP. Our first year increase was nearly 25% with no accidents or tickets. This year Hartford is raising it an additional 35%! These increases without cause are ridiculous. AARP for the most part represent seniors on a fixed budget how do they justify associating themselves with a company that price gouges seniors?

The IRS Free File is available today.  Only a few percent of people eligible to use it do.  It has been available for over twenty years.  I have used it for three years and wish I had done so sooner.  It is free for those earning under $79,000.  Those making more should be happy they earn so much.

Beware of att ! Att offered aarp discounts only to sucker you in to their extremely poor service. Customers beware you will wait for 30-40 minutes only to be transferred wait again. Billing is inconsistent and goes up up up! You will regret ever signing up with this rip off company ! Stay away