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My husband and I are meeting with a financial advisor next week in order to plan our retirement. Among the information we are supposed to bring are estimates of our SS benefits. However, I am running into a problem. I know what there were estimated to be about 3 years ago --- the last time that we received a statement from social security in the mail. However, we have no recent estimate and my husband's salary has substantially gone up since then so there might be a difference.
Here is the problem:
A couple of years ago, my husband was the victim of tax-related ID fraud* (someone had stolen his SS # and used it to claim his refund). At the time, we took all the necessary steps (reporting the problem to the police and the IRS). We were given 3 months of free credit freezes as well as a special personal ID #. We thought the problem was under control. However, the next year, someone again attempted to file taxes under our name. This time we decided to put an indefinite freeze on our credit. I was also worried about someone attempting to file a SS claim under my husband's name, so we contacted a local SS office. They told us that since we have frozen our credit, it was now impossible for us to set up an online SS account, although the person my husband spoke with did reassure him that no-one had set up an false account under his name. I frankly do not know whether or not to believe that, since I remember him having problems setting up the account before I did the credit freeze and not after and also since I'm not sure how much I should trust what one random local SS employee told my husband.
Anyway, it would make me feel better if we could somehow touch base with the SSA again and somehow get reassurance that things are OK as well as a current estimate of our benefits. I have had enough experience with them to know that they will not speak with me, they will only speak with my husband (who is mind-bogglingly busy) because it is all about his account, not mine.
So, would anyone here happen to know how my husband could go about getting this kind of information in the fastest, easiest way possible? And preferably without undoing the credit freezes which would be an incredible pain in the butt, would take quite a bit of time (won't happen by next week) and would require having to pay and go through the whole process to re-freezing the credit. Yes, I know that is probably an impossibly tall order given the thickets of bureaucracy choking the SSA. But, honestly, it can't hurt to ask, can it?
*Note: Please no comments about how my husband should have protected his SS#. He is careful to the point of paranoia and is, besides, a cyber security expert. ID theft just runs rampant in our state.
If your husband's salary is above the SS limit, then his raises will not increase his benefits. The assumptions built into calculating the estimates are reasonable, and the weighting of income for benefit calculation is such that income increases above 100K make less difference than you think.
If your husband is so busy that he does not want to take the time to get a more current estimate, chill out and use the old one. If you can afford a "financial advisor" then you must have other potential sources of retrement income. Let's also hope you are seeing a real advisor, not a security or insurance salesperson in drag.
We are seeing a TIAA advisor. He doesn't work on commission, but is salaried. (I called and asked). I realize that financial advisors are not required to work in the best interests of their clients. But I think that goes for any financial advisor. The main benefit I see is that my husband will listen to an expert, more than he will me, his wife. So, hopefully this advisor will tell him, for example, that he has no need to keep $50,000 in a money market, when we already have $60,000 in checking and savings, (as I have been saying for a while) and he will listen. That kind of thing.
Yes, we will not starve without the SS benefits. However, they will make up a significant chunk of our retirement and I would still like to make sure that everything is still OK. This ID theft thing has made me a little paranoid, I fear.
Also, the fact that my husband is busy and not interested in seeing what's up with the benefits, doesn't mean there's not a problem. My husband is a super optimist (even though he's in cyber security -- go figure) and I balance him out be being the designated "worrier" in the family.
SS uses only one of the three credit reporting agencies, I ran into the same problem after we froze our credit. I don't remember which one, but SS can tell you.
We had the same problem. Annually we check our credit bureau records here: AnnualCreditReport.com We don't have to unfreeze our records to do this. Sometimes it doesn't work and we have to write to one of the credit bureaus but we always get the reports. This way I can see what is open in our names and make corrections.
In the past, we've made appointments to speak to a Social Security Agent at the local office. We call the 800 number and make an appointment. You don't need an appointment. You can just walk in, but the wait might be long. The first time we spoke to an agent in person we asked him to set up a my social security account for us so that we could view our account online. This had to be set up in person at the Social Security office since our credit records were frozen. We had to prove our identity. Through my social security I can keep track of what our benefits will be and make sure that our wage records are correct without having to unfreeze our credit bureau records.
It is pretty easy to unfreeze your account for a short period of time and only pay once. You go to the credit bureau online that you want to unfreeze, type in your PIN number and give them the dates that you want to unfreeze and re-freeze the records. The last time we unfroze our records it cost us a one time fee of $10 but there are different fees depending upon your state and the reason for the freeze. Here is a website that explains the steps and give you the links. Credit freeze and thaw guide | Clark Howard
We had the same problem. Annually we check our credit bureau records here: AnnualCreditReport.com We don't have to unfreeze our records to do this. Sometimes it doesn't work and we have to write to one of the credit bureaus but we always get the reports. This way I can see what is open in our names and make corrections.
In the past, we've made appointments to speak to a Social Security Agent at the local office. We call the 800 number and make an appointment. You don't need an appointment. You can just walk in, but the wait might be long. The first time we spoke to an agent in person we asked him to set up a my social security account for us so that we could view our account online. This had to be set up in person at the Social Security office since our credit records were frozen. We had to prove our identity. Through my social security I can keep track of what our benefits will be and make sure that our wage records are correct without having to unfreeze our credit bureau records.
It is pretty easy to unfreeze your account for a short period of time and only pay once. You go to the credit bureau online that you want to unfreeze, type in your PIN number and give them the dates that you want to unfreeze and re-freeze the records. The last time we unfroze our records it cost us a one time fee of $10 but there are different fees depending upon your state and the reason for the freeze. Here is a website that explains the steps and give you the links. Credit freeze and thaw guide | Clark Howard
Thanks so much!
I think we will just go with the 3 year old SS figures for appointment with the advisor next week. But as soon as my husband has some free time, I'll encourage him to get down to our local SS office and set up the account.
Credit freezes have no effect on the records available to SSA employees. It only affects records available online to the public. You and your husband can go to an SSA office with ID and they can give you whatever information and estimates you want. I know. I was a bureaucrat.
I think we will just go with the 3 year old SS figures for appointment with the advisor next week. But as soon as my husband has some free time, I'll encourage him to get down to our local SS office and set up the account.[/QUOTE
If I was paying a retirement advisor, I'd reschedule until I had the accurate information. Why pay for something that you know isn't correct.
I think we will just go with the 3 year old SS figures for appointment with the advisor next week. But as soon as my husband has some free time, I'll encourage him to get down to our local SS office and set up the account.
If I was paying a retirement advisor, I'd reschedule until I had the accurate information. Why pay for something that you know isn't correct.
I do not think a 3 year old statement is going to be so far out that a FA advice be affected much. The advice most likely would not change either way. Still your point is valid. Jill I wish you well in those struggles with identity theft. It is a horrible experience to go through.
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