| by Glenn J. Downing, MBA, CFP® |
Now that I’m a beneficiary of Social Security, I know whereof I write. The SSA is now a part of my life, my wife’s life, and for better or for worse will be until we’ve assumed room temperature. I began drawing my retirement benefit at age 66, which was my Normal Retirement Age. NRA has been slowly moving up from age 65 to age 67, and now anyone who was born in 1960 or later has an NRA of age 67.
MySSA.gov
Like anyone else planning to investigate or claim benefits, I logged into the website. Calling it clunky and outdated is to be kind. There is some good information there, but the site itself looks like it hasn’t been updated in about 30 years. Easy things one should be able to change online still take a form.
Here are a few examples:
- Yes, you can change bank accounts for direct deposit online, but you won’t see the change for three months!
- Want to change your tax withholding? That too takes a form mailed in to the SSA. Why can’t a beneficiary simply go to a withholding box and make a change?
- The last few times I’ve called I’ve had 40-minute wait times. I have to say – without exception the people who answered the phone were knowledgeable, professional, and helpful. But forty minutes!!
My Personal Tale
When I went to examine my earnings history, the earnings numbers provided by the IRS to the SSA were way off, and on the low side. After pulling out all my tax returns I found out what was going on: the IRS reported only my W-2 income to the SSA, and none of my self-employment income – anything paid on a form 1099.
I learned that one’s benefit while still earning in retirement is automatically re-calculated annually. The very kind SSA representative told me that I needed to submit a written request for a benefit recalculation, providing my tax return, so that they at SSA could clearly see the income the IRS didn’t report to them. This has now become an annual task.
I sent in the letter in June of 2022 to request a recalculation of my benefit for 2021. I received a letter from the SSA this January — six months later! — advising me of my new benefit. So be patient, my friends. Things happen at a glacial pace. Your issue will get fixed, eventually. And I always receive a special payment to compensate me for all the additional benefit I was due to date.
