@john258 wrote:
No it did not come from AARP. Books and regs do not always tell the full story. Local experts know how to do that you and I do not.
I don't see how you say that Gail's information "did not come from AARP". The link she provided in her first post definitely goes to an AARP article.
It's also astonishing to me that you say that "regs" -- I assume you mean the actual government regulations -- do not always tell the full story. I think that these do tell the story.
There is certainly room for context and discussion of the implications of the "regs" and that is what Gail often provides as well, with a full discussion not just her unsubstantiated opinion.
What does "local" mean anyway? Personally, I consider @GailL1 to be one of several "local experts" on the AARP forums, with "local" being local to my own community of both geographic and virtual milieus.
Gail may not be expert in all fields, so I would take that into account myself when reading her replies, depending upon which forum. Is she an expert in the "Rock n' Roll" forum? the "Bingo" forum? I don't know. But for my purposes she has journeyman's status in these Social Security and Medicare issues.
I have observed the depth of her research into issues related to Social Security, Medicare, and health insurance issues over the past years and I am deeply impressed. She must spend dozens of hours every week (unpaid!) researching these issues and crafting thoughtful replies to posters who ask about them.
She provides documentation for her replies, providing information from AARP and other publications, as well as directly from the government sources for Social Security and Medicare. Her technical replies on these issues are totally transparent, she provides the information for any reader to go to the source and investigate the issue themselves. What Gail provides in these posts are not her opinions but actual fact based on research into the issue. (She does produce other posts with seemingly her opinions on issues but those are clearly indicated in my experience).
You direct people to go visit a local expert. Sometimes it is indeed necessary to actually pay someone for consultation. But before doing so it also behooves people to investigate on their own first, educating themselves on the matter. And one of these ways...in this modern world...is by reading forums and asking questions on them. They rather take the place of older newspaper columns and asking around one's circle of friends and acquaintances.
Certainly you have to consider the viability of the information that you read on the internet...need I mention the Q-anon? I have viewed over the years a number of sites that I think were clearly posted by someone with schizophrenia, their grasp on reality was so tenuous. Would I accept information from someone like that? Likely not. But if they provided links to actual Social Security rules...maybe I would!
Is Gail infallible? No, I know she has made some technical errors in replies and she and I have actually discussed some. Generally these are due to changes in SS rules or deal with such arcane issues that it is easy to get tripped up. But she always corrects herself and posts additional explanation on the issue.
I consider @GailL1 to be a tremendous resource for AARP forum members. And she does this for free. People who come through here and ask a single question, get her in-depth reply, and then move on, never to be seen again, have little idea of how worthwhile Gail's efforts are.
Hooray for @GailL1 !!
