In 2013, AMAC—The Association of Mature American Citizens—took a big step with the creation of the AMAC Foundation, Inc., a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit entity designed to serve Americans. The Foundation’s mission is to help protect and ensure the financial security, health, and social lives of current and future mature Americans, and to help Americans navigate the bewildering array of decisions they need to make.
The Foundation’s projects and plans include providing factual information that improves understanding of the positive value of Social Security and Medicare and the current and long-term challenges these programs face, as well as providing interpretations by Certified Social Security Advisors through AMAC publications, workshops, webinars, podcasts, and telephone support.
In addition, the Foundation serves all Americans in a variety of capacities, including provision of a source of education on the principles of American Free Enterprise, long-term retirement financial planning, and preparing for life—and potential employment—after retirement.
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I have questions regarding do – Over for social security
I have to take my retirement benefits at age
64. Full retirement was 66 . I am now 70 years old turning 71 in oct.
can I reclaim lost benefits wages?
My Ex- husband never paid any cola increases on his support to me. This was stated in the decree they should be increased as cola increased and also on the child support cost. He has never taking out a life insurance plan in the amount of 81, 000 to cover any cost should he die, What can I do? I can’t make it on my social security only. I am about to lose my home and plan to live. I can’t afford an attorney.
Cherie,
I’m afraid you have no ability to “do over” your claiming of Social Security benefits. Once benefits are claimed, the monthly payment is fixed except for Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) which may occur annually. However, if you worked after starting your SS benefits, Social Security monitored your earnings each year to see if you were entitled to a benefit increase because your more recent work earnings were more than those upon which your benefit was originally calculated and, if appropriate, they have already increased your benefit accordingly. So there is no chance for you to start over to get a higher Social Security payment.
Your situation with your ex-husband not paying his full support obligation is a legal matter, not a Social Security matter, so you would need to seek legal counsel to deal with that, and I’m not able to refer to you any attorney. You may wish to contact the Legal Aid Society where you live to see if pro bono assistance is available. You should be able to find a number for your State’s legal aid office via an internet search for “Legal Aid in (state name).”
If you are having difficulty paying your Medicare premiums, you might also wish to explore whether assistance is available through your State’s Medicare Savings Program which provides those with low income and few assets with assistance with Medicare premiums and co-pays. You can find out more about the Medicare Savings Program at this link: https://www.medicare.gov/medicare-savings-programs
Finally, you can go to this website sponsored by the National Council on Aging – http://www.benefitscheckup.org – where you can enter your zip code and obtain information about all types of assistance which may be available where you live.
Cherie, I hope this information is helpful. I wish we could do more, but we can only provide you with information about how Social Security works.
Russell Gloor
National Social Security Advisor
The AMAC Foundation