Social Security madness [View all]

What a difference a week makes.

Last week I had a great conversation with someone at Social Security to finalize my application for benefits, according to an appointment for a phone call I had been given at my in-person visit to the local office. She was helpful and positive and went through all my details of employment history, including that I was applying under the new (Biden-era) end of the windfall elimination provision. Hurray, I was eligible.

Amazingly, my retroactive payment was credited to my account this week.

Then I got the paper confirmation, and there’s an error in it that makes the whole application invalid, maybe even appearing fraudulent. It specifies that I state I have no other pension income, which I do, which is why I had not applied for SS before the WEP repeal. The agent I spoke to understood that.

So I go to the SS page to check my account information. I can’t access the account using my new password because it says it’s only accepting logins created after 2021?

So I am going to sequester all payments until I can clear this up of course, and be very grateful I can do that.

What does this mean for everyone else?