My bank has a bill pay service that automatically sends checks for my property taxes when they're due. I just had to set up the payment schedule once, and now I don't have to remember. It's free with my checking account.

Just to add one more option - many counties now offer automatic payment plans where they can withdraw the property tax amount directly from your bank account when due. This is different from the monthly payment option mentioned above. You'd still pay the same twice-yearly schedule, but it would happen automatically without you having to remember.

i feel for u so much. my friend has a disabled daughter and says the whole system is set up to make it as confusing as possible!!!

To summarize the options for your son: 1. He can transition from child survivor benefits to Adult Disabled Child benefits at 18 if his disability began before 22 2. The benefit amount would be the same (75% of your husband's PIA) initially 3. When siblings age out, his benefit could increase up to the family maximum (typically 150-180% of the worker's PIA) 4. The application process should start 3-4 months before he turns 18 5. He'll need comprehensive medical documentation of his disability 6. After approval, he'll get Medicare after 24 months 7. Benefits continue indefinitely as long as he remains disabled and unmarried For yourself, you have flexibility to either claim reduced widow's benefits as early as 60 and switch to your own retirement later, or vice versa depending on which maximizes your lifetime benefits.

My husband actually just went through this last month! He's 63, got very sick, and we were confused about disability vs. retirement. What helped us was contacting our local SHIP (State Health Insurance Assistance Program) counselor who explained everything for free. She was way more helpful than calling Social Security directly.

One important thing to mention about applying for SSDI after age 62: if you've already filed for early retirement, there's a rule called "retroactive suspension" that might apply. If you applied for early retirement and then became disabled within 12 months of filing, you can withdraw your retirement application and apply for disability instead. If it's been more than 12 months, you can still apply for SSDI, but the process gets more complicated. Also remember that SSDI has a 5-month waiting period before benefits start. Planning around these timeframes is crucial when you're in that 62-FRA age range.

The Social Security Administration publishes their Annual Statistical Supplement which contains all the formulas and tables. You can find it here: https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statcomps/supplement/ It's not exactly light reading but it has everything you're looking for.

Thank you all for the incredible resources! I've ordered the Mike Piper book and am going through the POMS documentation (which is indeed as unfriendly as warned). The Annual Statistical Supplement is also proving very helpful. I'm realizing this is more complex than I initially thought, especially with the family maximum calculations and the special considerations for my child. I'm particularly concerned about that SGA limit mentioned for DAC benefits - definitely need to model that scenario carefully. For those who might find this thread later, I'll try to share my spreadsheet once I've got it working properly with all these variables. Thanks again for all the help!

ANOTHER THING TO CONSIDER is how long you think you'll live!!! If your family has longevity, waiting till 70 for the bigger check makes sense. But if not, sometimes taking both benefits earlier is better. My neighbor waited till 70 and then only collected for 2 years before she passed away! She would've been better off taking everything earlier!!! NOBODY talks about this enough!!!

Thank you everyone for all this helpful information! I feel much more confident now in my plan to take survivor benefits at 67 and then switch to my own retirement benefit at 70. I'm going to: 1. Double-check my Social Security statement online to confirm my projected benefit at 70 2. Call SSA (using that Claimyr service someone mentioned to save time) to verify my survivor benefit amount 3. Do the math to confirm my own benefit at 70 will indeed be higher than the survivor benefit I really appreciate how this community has helped ease my anxiety about this decision. Social Security planning is so much more complicated than I expected, especially with survivor benefits in the mix.

Thanks everyone for the reassurance and advice! I feel much better knowing I'll get paid from my requested start date even if processing takes longer. I'll keep an eye on my MySSA account and follow up if I don't see progress in a couple months. And I'll double-check about Medicare too - I hadn't even thought about that part potentially being delayed separately.

My process was super fast, only took 2 weeks. Guess I got lucky!

I've been dealing with Social Security for my mom who just lost my dad. Her situation is different (she never worked) but we found out survivor benefits are only retroactive for 6 months. So definitely apply as soon as possible when the time comes. Hope your husband lives a good long life though! 💜

One final clarification that might help: If you're receiving your own reduced retirement benefit now and later become eligible for survivor benefits, you have options: 1. You can continue receiving your reduced retirement benefit and wait until your FRA to apply for unreduced survivor benefits ($2,150) 2. You can apply for reduced survivor benefits now (you'd get less than $2,150) and switch from your own benefit The optimal strategy depends on the difference between your current benefit and the survivor benefit you'd receive now vs. at FRA. SSA should be able to tell you the exact amounts to help you decide which option is best when the time comes.

You mentioned your FRA benefit would be $2400 and your husband's is $3200. Honestly with those numbers, you probably want to focus on maximizing your own benefit rather than spousal benefits anyway. If you took spousal at your FRA, you'd get $1600 (half of his). If you took it early at 62, you'd get even less - around $1120. That's a lot less than your own benefit even with early filing reductions. Have you considered when you actually need the income? If you can wait until 70, your $2400 FRA benefit becomes around $3000/month. That's the permanent value of delaying.

One more thing to consider: survivor benefits. If either of you passes away, the surviving spouse gets to keep the higher of the two benefit amounts. If you expect your husband to have a longer life expectancy, then maximizing your benefit might not be as important. But if you think you might outlive him, having him maximize his benefit by waiting until 70 could provide you with a larger survivor benefit later. Running the numbers with a financial advisor who specializes in Social Security claiming strategies might be worthwhile given your benefit amounts.

whats FRA mean? keep seeing that mentioned

Thank you all for your responses! I'm feeling much better now knowing this delay isn't unusual. I'll give it another couple weeks before following up. It sounds like I should keep checking my online account daily and not just wait for a letter. Really appreciate all the insights!

one thing nobody mentioned yet - if u withdraw and reapply later u can still only go back 6 months max when u reapply. so don't wait too long thinking u can get a big lump sum for all those months u waited!

Based on what you've shared about your situation, here's what I'd recommend: 1. Since you'll be earning $65,000, which is well above the $22,320 earnings limit, a significant amount of your benefits will be withheld. 2. The SSA withholds benefits starting from January of each year until they've covered the projected withholding amount. This means you might receive no benefits for several months of the year. 3. For every month where your entire benefit is withheld due to work, the SSA will adjust your early retirement reduction when you reach full retirement age. 4. Given your earnings and the short time since you started benefits, the automatic adjustment at FRA might be more advantageous than withdrawing and repaying $18,000 now. I'd recommend creating a my Social Security account online and using the retirement calculator to model both scenarios with your specific numbers.