Great changes occur with Social Security and you have questions.
My recent columns have attracted thousands of comments, largely centered on three main themes: the fear of delayed checks and the embrace of customer service to the social security administration, Roth conversions on deferred tax pension accounts and the heartbreaking explanations on the reasons why the filing of services at 62 is not always a question of choice.
The Trump administration has made considerable and controversial changes, including massive staff and field offices, limiting the telephone service. And considerably increase the amount it garnishes by monthly check for social security beneficiaries who receive overpayments. These changes have an impact on nearly 74 million retired elderly people and disabled workers who currently receive benefits and millions of others about to do so.
The following is a sample published by these 5,000 comments and more and my point of view.
I am 62 years old, I retire soon, and I am ready to start my social security checks because I have no savings. I have an appointment with social security on June 9. When will I receive my first payment?
Kerry Hannon: It is generally required at least a month or 30 days to receive your first social security check after processing your request. This could be 45 days in some cases. The precise moment of your checking as a check is based on the treatment deadlines for the Social Security Administration.
During a recent meeting of operations in April at the SSA, an agency official indicated that the field offices “have trouble keeping the rate of speed this year”. The fact that they are aware of this is a good thing and, if they take measures, will have this under control when you apply for your advantage.
In general, however, I recommend applying up to four months before wanting to start receiving services.
I know a number of people who have claimed their social security benefits before their full retirement was triggered due to the age bias in hiring. They cannot obtain an interview for part -time jobs, not to mention everything that has advantages. The only income guaranteed that they can find is social security.
Unfortunately, this comment sounds true. When you cannot find a new job after a layoff, involuntary retirement could be your last option, which, in turn, forces you to claim services early.
I am a defender of delay in services up to 70 years if you can. But not everyone has the financial railings to pay for subsistence costs until it draws or a stable income which allows them to wait for it.
You can start to receive your social security retirement services at 62. You are entitled to complete advantages only when you reach your full retirement age (FRA). For example, if you are 62 years old in 2025, your advantage would be about 30% lower than it would be at your age of 67 years.
If you delay the advantages of your FRA until the age of 70, you get retirement credits. These reach an increase of about 8% per year until you reach 70, when credits cease to accumulate.
As for your point of view on age bias – egism is real. For many employers, 62 are the work threshold and 58 for hiring, by analysis of the Transamerica Center for withdrawal Studies.
However, almost half of workers expect to work after 62 years, according to a new survey published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. And about a third expects to work after 67 years.
Most retirees – 3 out of 5 – declare retirement earlier than the age of 65, according to non -partisan data from the Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), with a 62 -year -old median retirement age. Nearly 7 out of 10 claim that the reason was their control.
I retired at 60 but I started my social security at 70 years old. Between these two points, I made the IRA for Roth conversions. I am now in the 1970s, and all my income is free of tax, and I have no minimum distribution required each year. My retired friends who started social security at 62, all have trouble reaching both ends. Some had to obtain part -time jobs. I have no financial concern.
The minimization of future retirement taxes is an advantage that many people do not take into account their retirement decision.
Learn more: Do you pay social security taxes?
If you worry about higher tax rates in the future, Roth conversions can be a good solution for some people.
A conversion is when you move the assets of a traditional IRA or 401 (K) into a Roth IRA. You pay taxes on the funds you move, but once your money is invested in the Roth Ira, it increases in tax franchise and can be removed in retirement tax franchise.
For most people, it is best to tackle this with a series of smaller annual conversions to keep your immediate manageable tax bill. Keep in mind that Roth conversions are permanent. If you want the conversion to be for your tax year in 2025, you must finish it by December 31.
Do you have a question about retirement? Personal finances? Something related to the career? Click here to file a note at Kerry Hannon.
Now let’s go to your comments by slamming the Cups in Customer Service of the Social Security Administration. There were stops of these. Here is a handful.
Gee, who would have thought Eliminate telephone service While closing the field offices, in addition to adding additional verification steps, could have made things difficult for the elderly to access their social security services? It took a tumult to make them go back.
And this comment:
The idea that any agency that deals with the public by phone is in the Surrembords of staff – crazy. If you have ever had to face the SSA or the IRS, you know how long the waiting times lasts. Some days you can’t even go. They need more staff, no less.
One more:
Where I live, the nearest social security office is more than four hours away. Better customer service is necessary, especially in distant areas. Good telephone service is necessary for some, but improving online service would benefit most people.
The Trump administration actions at SSA are already panicking the elderly who flooded the SSA number 800 to obtain a leap of 25% in April during the same period a year ago. There have been service failures and longer waiting times.
Although the Social Security Administration has supported its telephone service reduction plan due to the counter coupling, the situation is still disastrous.
“Already, DOGE has taken measures to eliminate 7,000 SSA jobs and have plans for additional layoffs and cuts,” said Kathleen Romig, director of social policy and handicap policies at the center of the left on the budget and political priorities, told Yahoo Finance. “The staff reduces this quickly and this depth inevitably harm the candidates and the beneficiaries of Social Security, forcing them to wait longer for the service.”
What should the seniors expect to move forward?
The experts I have spoken about are not optimistic of what awaits us, at least for the moment.
“While congress can technically direct the SSA on how to spend part of its administrative budget, including the endowment levels, to counter what happened because of DOGE decisions, which is unlikely,” said Jason Fichtner, executive director of the Alliance for Lifetime Institute Institute, which has held several positions in the social security administration.
“The reduction of SSA staff, while the agency was already operating at insufficient support levels and computer systems that need modernization, delays and continuous service failures are probable,” he added.
Kerry Hannon is a senior columnist at Yahoo Finance. She is a career and retirement strategist and the author of 14 books, including the next “Retirement cocks: a Gen X guide to secure your financial future,“” “”In control over 50 years: how to succeed in the new world of work “ And “never too old to become rich”. Follow her Bluesky.
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