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If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
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Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
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An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
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Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
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I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
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dont forget about taxes to! if you make to much money while on ss then more of your benefits get taxed. like 85% of them can be taxed if your over the limit. somthing else to think bout.
Good point about taxes! I'll need to look into how my part-time income plus Social Security would affect my tax situation. This is getting complicated!
After reading through this whole discussion, I think you're in a good position to make an informed choice now. It's not a massive financial difference either way given that it's only 4 months. The earnings test complicates things slightly, but only for those 4 months. One last thing to consider: if you're truly miserable at work, what's the value of your happiness and mental health for those 4 months? Sometimes that's worth more than the financial calculation. Best of luck with your decision!
Thank you! You're right that the mental health aspect is important too. I think I'm going to call SSA (using that service someone mentioned to avoid the wait) to get exact numbers, then make my final decision. I appreciate all the helpful advice from everyone!
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btw when u apply make sure u list EVERY single thing wrong with u not just the main problem. my claim was denied when i only talked about my back but got approved when i listed everything (diabetes, depression, high blood pressure, etc). they look at the COMBINED effect of all ur health problems!
yes!! this is so important!! my cousin only put her main disability and got denied twice but then her lawyer made her list EVERYTHING and she got approved
I hadn't thought about listing everything. I've been focusing on my severe arthritis and back problems, but I also have high blood pressure, early stage COPD from years around the shop, and some vision problems. I'll make sure to document all of these. Thank you!
One more thing to consider about your situation: If your husband's SSDI benefit is very low, it might be because not all of your business income was properly credited to his earnings record during those years you filed jointly. Self-employment income is reported on Schedule SE, and sometimes small business owners don't complete this correctly. It might be worth having a Social Security representative review his earnings record to ensure all income was properly credited. If there are errors, you can request corrections with proof of tax filings. The same goes for your own record during the 6 years you've been filing - make sure you're completing Schedule SE correctly so your self-employment earnings count toward your Social Security credits.
That's an excellent point. We've always used a tax preparer from H&R Block, but I've never specifically checked if the Schedule SE was done correctly. I'm going to pull all our tax returns from the last 10 years and review them. Thank you for this tip!
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I tried calling SSA to ask about something similar and couldn't get through after 3 DAYS of trying!!! Their phone system is USELESS!!! Kept saying "high call volume" and disconnecting me. WHAT A JOKE! If you're really considering this strategy you NEED to talk to an actual SSA rep to understand all the implications, not just random internet strangers!
I had the same problem trying to call about my disability review last month! Found out about this service called Claimyr from another thread here that gets you through the phone system. Costs money but it worked - they got me an agent in 20 minutes when I had been trying for days. Their website (claimyr.com) has a video showing how it works. For something this important, might be worth it.
has anyone done the math on this? like actually calculated if you come out ahead? I mean, if you take $2,450 x 12 = $29,400 for the year then have to pay back based on the formula ($110,000 - $22,320) / 2 = $43,840 you'd owe more than you received? am i missing something?
Your math is correct. With the numbers provided, they would withhold approximately $43,840, which exceeds the annual benefit amount of $29,400. This means SSA would recover the full year's benefits and continue withholding from the following year's payments until they've recouped the full amount. This is why this strategy doesn't work mathematically at higher income levels - you end up owing more than you receive, creating a deficit rather than any advantage.
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Thanks everyone for the helpful information! I'll definitely check my earnings record and make sure all my substantial earnings years are counted correctly. I did have some summer jobs and a few years of part-time work while teaching that might help. I'll also request the detailed WEP calculation and see if there are any errors. It's still frustrating to lose so much of my Social Security after paying into it for years, but at least I understand the rules better now.
anyone know if WEP applies if you switch to disability??? my teacher friend got SSDI and thinks she avoided WEP somehow?
WEP does apply to SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) just like it applies to retirement benefits. However, there's a disability freeze provision that sometimes results in a different calculation. Also, if someone receives a disability pension from teaching instead of a regular pension, different rules might apply. Your friend should double-check her specific situation with SSA.
Morgan Washington
my neighbor works for our state pension system and she said they've been swamped with questions about this! apparently the state retirement systems don't have any more info than we do right now lol
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Anna Stewart
•Typical government bureaucracy! Left hand doesn't know what the right is doing. And meanwhile WE have to figure out how to plan our retirements with incomplete information!
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Nathan Kim
One important update: Based on the information shared, I ran a quick calculation using what we know about the new proportional formula. With 18 years of substantial earnings under Social Security out of a 48-year career, approximately 37.5% of your career was in covered employment. The new formula will likely result in you keeping about 37.5% of the difference between your WEP-reduced benefit ($675) and your non-WEP benefit ($1,850). So: $675 + (0.375 × ($1,850 - $675)) = approximately $1,116 per month. This is just an estimate based on the general formula, but it gives you a better idea of what to expect. The actual calculation will be more complex and depend on your specific earnings history.
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Gavin King
•That's incredibly helpful - thank you! A potential increase to $1,116 would make a significant difference in my retirement planning. I really appreciate you taking the time to calculate that estimate.
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