When you think the clerk may be wrong about your eligibility to file for social security, insist on knowing the facts.
In a recent survey I conducted, my readers gave the Social Security Administration outstanding marks for the services they provide. Still, that doesn’t mean that no one encounters any problems dealing with them.
I bring this up again because, despite the survey results, I continue to hear from readers who tell me that they contacted the SSA with the intention of filing for Social Security benefits of one kind or another and then were either told they weren’t eligible for any benefits or were otherwise talked out of filing.
Of course, sometimes that is good advice. For example, if you are 62 years old and still working full time and making $75,000 per year, and you call the SSA to file for retirement benefits, the rep would be correct in telling you that you simply aren’t eligible for benefits until you retire or reach your full retirement age, whichever comes first.
Or if you are a 58-year-old woman whose husband has died, and you call the SSA to file for widow’s benefits, they should tell you that, unless you are disabled or have a minor child in your care, you must be at least 60 years old before you can get such benefits.
But sometimes the circumstances aren’t so cut and dried. So let me repeat something I’ve said in past columns: If you think you could be eligible for Social Security benefits, you have every right to file for them. Whenever there is any doubt about your eligibility, always insist on filing a claim.
By doing so, you accomplish two things. No. 1: You will get a legal decision about your eligibility for benefits, and not just one Social Security clerk’s opinion (or for that matter, one Social Security columnist’s opinion). And No. 2: You will have appeal rights. In other words, if your claim is denied, and you still are not satisfied, you can ask that your claim be reviewed. In theory, you could even take it all the way to the Supreme Court if you wanted to! That’s a little far-fetched, but the basic point is valid. If a Social Security representative says “no” and you walk away and later learn you were due benefits, you generally won’t be able to do anything about it but gripe—and then file a claim with no retroactivity. But if you file a claim the first time, and it is denied, and you later prove your eligibility, you will get full retroactive benefits to the date you filed the claim.
The overall message is: Always demand to file a claim for benefits if you think you might be due them—no matter what a Social Security agent tells you. And especially do so if you get different answers from different SSA representatives. (Sadly, I hear the latter complaint far too often from far too many of my readers.) Now here are some questions from readers that illustrate what I am talking about.
Q: I am 68 years old and get a small Social Security retirement check. My first husband and I were married for 30 years. But it was an abusive relationship and I divorced him about five years ago. Three years ago, I married a wonderful man. But sadly, he died last month. When I called the Social Security office to file for widow’s benefits, the clerk told me we had to be married at least 10 years, so she said I wasn’t due anything. She helped me file for the $255 death benefit, and that’s all I got. But something I read in one of your recent columns leads me to think I should be getting widow’s benefits. What should I do?
A: Unless I am missing some of the facts, you were given bum advice by the Social Security rep. The 10-year duration of marriage rule applies only to divorced spouses. So, assuming your second husband’s benefit rate was more than you are getting on your own, it sure sounds to me like you are due widow’s benefits. You should call the SSA back and immediately file a claim.
Q: I am 62 years old. I called Social Security’s 800 number and told them I wanted to file for my Social Security benefits. I run my own business, but I plan to turn it over to my wife and pay myself a salary of $22,000 per year so I will be under the Social Security earnings limit and thus eligible for my monthly checks. The telephone rep I talked to told me I was eligible for benefits, and she set me up for a phone interview with someone at my local Social Security office. But when the local office representative called me, he said I wasn’t eligible for benefits and terminated the interview. Do I have any recourse?
A: Well, you are treading a fine Social Security eligibility line. In the past, the rules were pretty stringent. You would not have been able to simply turn the business over to your wife on paper, pay yourself a minimal salary, and then expect to collect Social Security retirement benefits. But recently, SSA has eased up on these rules, and now you may be eligible. Again, the only way you will find out for sure is to file a claim and get a legal decision.
Q: I am 89 years old. My husband was 92 when he died several months ago. His benefit was higher than mine. So I thought when he died, I should get bumped up to his rate. But when I called and talked to a Social Security agent, he told me that because my benefit was more than half of my husband’s benefit, I was not due anything extra. Was he right?
A: It sure doesn’t sound right to me. If your husband was still alive, what the SSA rep told you might make sense. But now that you are a widow, it sure doesn’t. I suggest you call the SSA back and do what I’ve said over and over again in this column: Insist on filing a claim for widow’s benefits.
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