Just want to echo what everyone else has said - this community has been incredibly helpful during this whole SSA website outage! As someone who's relatively new to dealing with Social Security, I was really stressed when I couldn't access my account to check my application status. Reading through all the updates and suggestions here really put my mind at ease. I had no idea about the text alert system or that there were services like Claimyr available. It's also reassuring to know that these maintenance windows happen more regularly than I thought, even if the communication could be better. The fact that the COLA increases are now showing up in the benefit calculator is definitely a bright spot! Thanks to everyone who kept posting updates and sharing their knowledge - it really makes navigating all this government stuff feel less overwhelming when you have a supportive community to lean on.

This has been such an educational thread to follow! I'm fairly new to dealing with Social Security myself and was genuinely worried when I couldn't access my MySocialSecurity account for the past couple days. Like many others here, I was concerned it might be a security issue or that I had somehow messed up my account setup. It's really reassuring to learn this was just scheduled maintenance, even though I agree the communication about these outages could be much better. I had no idea about features like text alerts or services like Claimyr - definitely going to look into both of those for future peace of mind. The updated COLA calculations showing in the benefit estimator is a nice bonus too! Thanks to everyone who shared updates and resources throughout this whole situation. This community really demonstrates how helpful people can be when we all work together to share information and support each other through these kinds of technical hiccups.

One last thing - if you do decide to try for an SSA appointment, do it soon. Their backlog is horrendous right now and it can take weeks or even months to get an in-person meeting. You can try calling too, but be prepared to spend hours on hold if you can even get through. And definitely write down all your questions beforehand so you don't forget anything important when you finally talk to someone.

I'm so sorry for your loss, Ethan. Losing a spouse so young is devastating, and having to navigate these complex financial decisions while grieving makes it even harder. One thing I'd add to the excellent advice already given - since you mentioned your husband was self-employed, make sure SSA has accurate records of all his earnings. Self-employment income sometimes doesn't get properly credited, especially if there were any years where quarterly taxes weren't filed perfectly. You might want to gather his tax returns for the last several years before your SSA appointment to verify his earnings record is complete. Also, consider this timing factor: if you're 52 now, you have 8 years before you can claim survivor benefits at 60. That's actually a good amount of time to potentially build up some additional savings or find part-time work that you enjoy, which could give you more flexibility to wait closer to your FRA for the full benefit. The fact that you're thinking through this carefully now, rather than making a rushed decision, shows you're on the right track. Take your time with this decision - it will affect your finances for the rest of your life.

so sorry for ur loss

Just wanted to add that you should also check if you qualify for any divorced spouse benefits if you were married to anyone else for 10+ years. Sometimes people overlook this option when planning their claiming strategy. Also, since you mentioned you never remarried, that's good for your survivor benefit eligibility - remarrying before age 60 would have affected your ability to claim survivor benefits. One tip from my own experience: when you do go to apply, consider going to your local SSA office rather than trying to do it over the phone. The in-person reps seem to have a better understanding of these more complex claiming strategies, and you can make sure all the paperwork is correct before you leave.

my neighbor said she filed early for ss and then withdrew her application when she found out about the reduction. I think u have like a year to change ur mind? might be worth looking into

I'm SHOCKED no one has mentioned the break-even calculation yet!! For a $19 reduction, you'd need to calculate how many months it would take for the extra money from claiming early to equal the reduced amount over time. It's usually around 12-15 years for people claiming a year early, so for one month early it might be longer. But you NEED to calculate this based on your specific situation!

One more important thing to know: If you're approved for disabled widow's benefits, you'll be automatically enrolled in Medicare after 24 months on benefits, regardless of your age. This is a significant benefit that can help with your healthcare costs. Also, when you reach your full retirement age (probably 67 in your case), your benefit will automatically convert to a regular widow's benefit, which will be 100% of your husband's PIA instead of the 71.5% you receive as a disabled widow. This increase happens automatically.

Just wanted to add some practical advice from my experience helping my sister with her disabled widow's benefits application. Make sure you gather ALL your employment records too, not just medical records. SSA needs to verify when you stopped working consistently to establish your disability onset date. Also, if you have any doctors who treated you back in 2014-2015, try to contact them directly for records - sometimes medical facilities purge older records after 7-10 years. One more tip: keep detailed notes of every phone call and visit with SSA, including names and dates. This helped us tremendously when we had to follow up on her application status. Best of luck with your application, Carmen!