Fighting for the Social Security you’re entitled to
The Social Security Administration is a huge organization with offices across the country, staffed by thousands of individuals who are – guess what – capable of making mistakes. That’s shouldn’t really be surprising, but most of us look at the people we deal with at Social Security as “experts” and assume what they tell us is correct, when that may not be true. As a case in point to a recent report by Social Security’s Inspector General, Social Security staff sometimes misinform individuals – especially widows and widowers – that they have a choice of when to take their survivor’s benefits, causing the recipient to make a choice which costs them thousands of dollars in lost benefits. This was the case for an Ohio man who found out after the fact that he had a choice when to collect his widower benefit, and took on Social Security to recover at least some of what he lost. In this Cleveland News 5 article, the station’s investigator Jonathan Walsh relates a story of how tenacity paid off for for one man who received vague guidance from Social Security’s local office staff. Click here to read more.
Also, if you’re unsure about your individual situation under Social Security or have questions about your personal benefit entitlements, note that the AMAC Foundation provides an independent free-to-the-public Social Security Advisory service to help Americans navigate the complexities of this program. Learn more about it here…