Thanks everyone for the helpful responses! To summarize what I've learned: 1. Since my birthday is June 2, I'm not eligible for June benefits (only people born on the 1st get their birthday month) 2. My first eligible month is July 2025, which would be paid in August 2025 3. I can apply up to 4 months before, so March 2025 4. I need to watch my earnings since I'll be working part-time I appreciate all the help!

Just wanted to add one more thing that might help - if you're trying to get estimates of your benefit amounts at different claiming ages, you can use the SSA's online calculator at ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/estimator.html. It's really helpful to see the exact dollar difference between claiming at 62 vs waiting until your full retirement age. Also, once you create your my Social Security account online, you can see your complete earnings history and get personalized benefit estimates. Much easier than trying to get through on the phone!

I just logged into my mySSA account to check this out, and you all are right - it looks pretty simple! Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to read Chase's fine print carefully first, then make the change right after my next payment hits in early February. And I'll definitely keep both accounts open until I'm sure everything's working properly. $600 will be nice, but not if it means messing up my regular payments!

Just wanted to share my recent experience since it might help! I switched my SSA direct deposit last month for a Wells Fargo bonus offer. The online process was super easy - took maybe 10 minutes total. I logged into my mySSA account, went to the direct deposit section, entered my new routing and account numbers, and got a confirmation message right away. The key thing is definitely keeping your old account open! I kept mine for two full payment cycles just to be safe. My first payment to the new account came through exactly on schedule (the 3rd Wednesday of the month for me). Wells Fargo even sent me a text notification when the deposit hit. One tip: I called the new bank beforehand to let them know a large government deposit was coming. Some banks flag unusual deposits as suspicious, so giving them a heads up avoided any potential holds on the funds. Good luck with your Chase bonus - that $600 will be nice!

Thanks everyone for all this helpful information! I think I understand now that the RMDs won't count against the earnings limit (big relief!), but I need to watch out for: 1. Making sure my part-time work stays under the annual limit 2. Considering how the RMDs might affect the taxation of my Social Security benefits 3. Thinking about whether the survivor-to-retirement benefit switch makes sense with my RMDs I appreciate all the insights and personal experiences shared here. Really helps with this complicated decision!

One more thing to consider - since you inherited the IRA from your brother, make sure you're aware of the 10-year rule that applies to most non-spouse beneficiaries. You'll need to empty the entire inherited IRA by December 31st of the 10th year following your brother's death. This might affect your timing strategy for when to take survivor benefits vs. your own retirement benefits, especially if you'll have larger distributions in later years that could push you into higher tax brackets when combined with Social Security. You might want to consider doing some Roth conversions in lower-income years to spread out the tax impact, though that's definitely something to discuss with a tax professional given the complexity with Social Security taxation thresholds.

I've been reading through this entire thread and wanted to add one more resource that might help if the direct calling approaches don't work out. Many local Area Agencies on Aging have benefits counselors who are specifically trained to help with Social Security issues and can sometimes advocate on your behalf or help you navigate the system more effectively. You can find your local Area Agency on Aging by going to eldercare.acl.gov and entering your zip code. They often have dedicated staff who work with SSA regularly and know the ins and outs of the system. Some even have direct contacts at local SSA offices that can help expedite certain types of requests. This might be worth exploring as another option alongside the congressional inquiry route if the direct calling doesn't pan out. The best part is that these services are usually free and they're used to dealing with exactly these kinds of bureaucratic challenges. Good luck with your 7 AM calling campaign this week - I have a good feeling you're going to get this resolved soon with all the excellent strategies everyone has shared!

I'm a recently retired federal employee who had to navigate a similar SSA retroactive benefit situation about 6 months ago, and I wanted to share a strategy that worked when all the phone calling failed. After two weeks of trying the early morning calls and getting nowhere, I discovered that some SSA field offices have "walk-in Wednesday" hours specifically for quick questions and document submission. I called my local office (not the 1-800 number) and asked if they had any walk-in hours or express services for people who just need to verify that paperwork was received. Turns out my local office had a 2-hour window on Wednesday afternoons where they handled quick administrative matters without appointments. I was able to go during my lunch break, and they confirmed that my original fax had never been received. The clerk was able to accept a new copy of my SSA-795 right there and gave me a receipt with a case number for tracking. Two weeks later I received my notice of benefit adjustment and retroactive payment. The whole thing took less than a month once I got past the phone system bottleneck. I'd suggest calling your local office directly (you can find the number on ssa.gov/locator) and asking about any walk-in hours or express services they might offer. It might save you from having to take a full day off work while still getting the face-to-face interaction that seems to move things along much faster than the phone system. Keep fighting for those retroactive benefits - you're absolutely entitled to them and the financial impact over your lifetime makes it worth the effort!

Just be sure to ask specifically about the RIB LIM calculation when you talk to them. Many SSA reps automatically calculate it in their system but don't explain it well. Ask them to tell you what your husband's PIA was (that's the amount he would have received at his full retirement age), then what 82.5% of that figure is, and compare that to the $2200 he was receiving. You're entitled to the higher amount.

I'm so sorry for your loss, Evan. This is such a complicated situation and you're definitely not alone in being confused by the RIB LIM rule. From what I understand based on the helpful explanations here, you should actually receive the higher of either what your husband was getting ($2200) OR 82.5% of his Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). Since he claimed at 62 and was getting about 75% of his PIA, the 82.5% figure would likely be higher than the $2200 he was receiving. When you call SSA, definitely ask them to walk through both calculations so you can see which amount you're entitled to. Also, if you have trouble getting through to SSA, don't give up - it's worth persisting to get the correct amount you're owed. Wishing you the best during this difficult time.