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Because he WAS NOT ABLE to make an appointment. He called today and was told SS is booked too far out and he needs to call later.
I say - JUST GO TO THE LOCAL OFFICE WITHOUT AN APPOINTMENT - just like most people in my area do.
Best advise, what we always do. Walk in, take a number, if you avoid Mondays and Fridays you will normally see someone within 30 minutes. Every person we have dealt with has been very nice, helpful, and professional ans ALWAYS either answered the question we had or resolved what ever issue there was. Another hint, leave your cell phone in the car!!!!
I think that's because on a discussion board people can get answers right away, instead of having to wait a few hours/days to talk to someone at the Social Security office. Now, whether those "instant answers" are any good is another matter entirely.
Why aren't you consulting with Social Security instead of strangers in an internet forum?
I wonder that about most of the topics people post on this entire site.
Why is this so hard to understand?
In a potentially nerve-wracking circumstance you want some kind of information ASAP. Asking strangers on the Internet doesn't replace going to a doctor, lawyer, or government agency, but it's the fastest way to get at least some background info from those who have had similar experiences or just want to share what they know. Of course it's true that anything you read on a forum usually has to be vetted, at least until you know who's who, but it's often a lot easier to verify what someone else tells you, then it is to ferret out the fact yourself (the Wikipedia principle, as I call it).
Moreover, I got some useful pointers in this thread, especially from biscuitmom.
One, my address forward when INSIDE SS took five months their time.
I also had to provide ORIGINAL documentation as to my identity, which included the long form birth certificate from another country. It sounds like you didn't do that in your case. That would make the name error highly unlikely to happen.
You backdated? They may have found out she actually worked, and are making it your problem to clear up.
You mean that she worked in the past? You might have missed where I wrote that she was entitled to a small retirement benefit on her own work record. If you mean having worked while the application was pending, like under the table, then no. She hasn't.
At the meeting of August 19, the agent said she would cancel out the prior attempted claim from February and get the new one rolling, complete with acceptable proof of marriage. Since the February claim had been made 179 days prior, she explained, we had gotten in just under the wire to be able to claim retroactive benefits to that date. Apparently, however, she or someone else dropped the ball and the prior claim, the one initiated in February, didn't get canceled. If there was something that we were supposed to do to make that happen, she didn't tell us.
To those who asked, I am younger and I am receiving benefits, but I really don't want to give any more specifics. Anonymity and all that, you know.
Perhaps the letter she recently received was merely stating that she would no longer be receiving benefits under her OWN record. If that is the case, then she should receive another letter at her current address with your SSN at the top. I have not bothered looking up the process in POMS (one of SSAs manuals), so my "perhaps" means that at this point I'm taking a wild guess.
BTW, I, like the other posters, always go into the local office and take a number.
In a potentially nerve-wracking circumstance you want some kind of information ASAP. Asking strangers on the Internet doesn't replace going to a doctor, lawyer, or government agency, but it's the fastest way to get at least some background info from those who have had similar experiences or just want to share what they know. Of course it's true that anything you read on a forum usually has to be vetted, at least until you know who's who, but it's often a lot easier to verify what someone else tells you, then it is to ferret out the fact yourself (the Wikipedia principle, as I call it).
Moreover, I got some useful pointers in this thread, especially from biscuitmom.
I thought I'd come back and say that these issues have been resolved completely. In the end it did turn out to be an issue with my wife's name, and to solve it then and there with a minimum of fuss, she had to get a new card using just my last name without either of her former surnames. This was not ideal, but it was the only way we could easily do this, because her entitlement to spousal benefits was under my own name. The alternative would have been for her to do a legal name change in the courts. But now everything is straightened out and she is receiving the exact benefit which she was expecting in the first place.
SSA terminology can be a bit confusing at times so I thought I'd pass on an important fact I learned along the way, which applies to any situation in which the spouse is entitled to a benefit on their own record as well as a spousal benefit. The website and information booklet say that, in regard to such spouses, they will always pay the spouse's own earned benefit "first", and then the spousal benefit if it is higher. This means the difference between the spousal benefit, and the spouse's own earned benefit amount. When I read this, I thought it meant that SSA would authorize the earned benefit first, and then the spousal benefit before authorizing and calculating the final total benefit amount. By the same token, we thought that there wouldn't be any actual payment of money until both types of benefit had been authorized and calculated. Only then did we expect to receive any payment on her behalf. That was incorrect. When they say they will pay it "first", they mean an actual separate check or deposit that comes first. In the end she received the back pay on just her own record, and then about a month later she received the back pay for the spousal benefit. Since then she has been receiving two separate deposits on the same day each month.
So if you're in this situation and the initial back payment seems too small, don't worry--that's just for what you earned on your own work record. If you have a higher spousal benefit coming, you can probably expect about a month later.
That is really strange. I have never heard in all these forums and discussions of anyone getting two separate payments for there own and spousal benefits.
Some of the people working at the SS office give contradicting statements.
The woman I signed up with in 07 had many of her "facts" just plain wrong.
In fact , I went back to my CPA and asked if the way I was paying into SS was correct ( self employed) and he stated................" she doesn't know what she is talking about "
I think SS dept workers are like tax preparers..............go to 12 and get a dozen different answers.
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