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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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my brother said something about file and suspend but i think they got rid of that????? anyone know
Yes, the "file and suspend" strategy was eliminated by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. It's no longer available for anyone who wasn't already grandfathered in at that time. Some restricted application strategies were also eliminated for people born after January 1, 1954. The Social Security claiming rules have changed significantly over the past decade, which is why many online articles can be outdated or confusing.
Thank you all for the helpful information! I think I understand my options much better now. Just to summarize what I've learned: 1. The 8% delayed retirement credit is real, and it's simple interest (not compound) 2. After FRA, I can earn unlimited income from self-employment without benefit reductions 3. I'll get all COLA increases even while delaying 4. My wife's claiming decision doesn't affect my benefits 5. If I die first, my wife can switch to my higher benefit as a survivor, but she must APPLY for it (not automatic) 6. I need to consider taxation if I work while collecting I think I'm leaning toward delaying to 70 now, especially since it provides that "insurance policy" of a higher survivor benefit for my wife if I die first. I'll use that Claimyr service to get through to SSA and confirm these details for my specific situation. Really appreciate everyone's input!
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I'm just here to say DON'T TRUST the breakeven calculators out there!!! They're all based on a bunch of assumptions that probably don't apply to YOUR specific situation! They don't account for investment returns if you took early benefits and invested them, they don't account for inflation properly, and they COMPLETELY IGNORE the emotional value of reducing your stress NOW rather than later!!! If your job is making you miserable and you have other income sources, claiming early might be the right choice FOR YOU regardless of what the math says about some theoretical future that might never happen!
Fair point about the emotional value - that's hard to quantify. But the SSA calculators do account for cost of living adjustments. And if someone is disciplined enough to actually invest the early benefits rather than spending them, that's great, but most people don't do that in reality.
Thank you all for the helpful responses! I've decided to set up an appointment with SSA to get exact benefit estimates for both my own record and ex-spousal benefits at different ages. I'm also going to talk with my employer about possibly reducing to part-time hours - that might be the perfect compromise to reduce stress while still maximizing my SS benefits. I appreciate all the different perspectives here. This is exactly the kind of thoughtful discussion I was hoping for when I posted my question.
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so what are you going to do with the money??? i'd be on vacation somewhere warm lol
I will be out of the country on vacation for the next 6 months!!!🤪🤪 Just kidding, wish I could! Actually, I'm going to pay off some debt and put the rest in savings. After the initial shock, I'm just grateful for the financial breathing room.
one thing nobody mentioned is that back in my day you couldn't get benefits from an ex... the rules keep changing so make sure your actually entitled to it
The rule about survivor benefits from ex-spouses has actually been consistent for decades. If you were married for at least 10 years before divorcing and haven't remarried before age 60, you can claim survivor benefits on your ex-spouse's record. This is different from spousal benefits during life, which have different requirements. The SSA wouldn't approve and pay benefits unless eligibility was verified.
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BE CAREFUL!!!! My brother-in-law got hit with a HUGE overpayment bill because he misunderstood how this works! Make sure you report your earnings to SSA right away when you start benefits. They don't find out about your earnings until tax time the NEXT YEAR and by then you could owe thousands back if you went over the limit!!
This is a valid concern. To avoid potential overpayments, you should proactively report to SSA if you expect to exceed the monthly earnings limit in any month. You can do this through your my Social Security account online, by calling, or visiting an office. It's always better to report changes in advance than to deal with an overpayment later.
Just to add - when you do hit the earnings limit, they don't take away your entire benefit. They withhold $1 in benefits for every $2 you earn above the limit. So if you go over by $1,000 in a month, they'd withhold $500 in benefits.
That's less harsh than I thought! So I could potentially work a bit more and just accept a reduced benefit. That gives me more flexibility.
Freya Andersen
Just want to point out that SSDI conversion to survivor benefits is also important here. When a person is receiving SSDI and passes away, the survivor benefit calculation is a bit different than standard survivor benefits. The benefit is based on the SSDI payment amount, but there can be adjustments for the deceased's early claiming. Make sure the SSA rep understands your wife was on SSDI when calculating your survivor amount.
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Oliver Becker
•That's a really good point that I hadn't considered. I know she had only been receiving SSDI for about 9 months before she passed. Does that affect the calculation compared to if she had been on SSDI for years?
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Freya Andersen
•The length of time she received SSDI doesn't matter for the calculation. What matters is that SSA will calculate your survivor benefit based on 100% of her Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), which is the amount she would have received at her full retirement age. Since she was receiving SSDI, that's essentially what she was already getting (SSDI pays at the FRA rate regardless of age). Then that amount would be reduced based on YOUR age when YOU claim survivor benefits.
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Malik Jackson
IMPORTANT!!!! Did either of those SSA reps actually RUN THE NUMBERS for your specific situation???? Or were they just telling you general rules? Because without running your actual earnings record through their system, they might be GUESSING about which strategy is better for you!!!
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Oliver Becker
•You know what, they didn't! They were speaking in generalities. Should I specifically ask them to run calculations for both scenarios when I go back? Is that something they can do?
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LunarLegend
•Yes, absolutely ask them to run the numbers for your specific case. A good Claims Specialist can show you the exact dollar amount you would receive under different claiming scenarios. Make sure they show you: 1. Survivor benefit amount if claimed now at 65 2. Your own retirement benefit if claimed now at 65 3. Your own retirement benefit at your FRA (66+8mo) Seeing these specific numbers will make the best strategy clear and give you documentation to refer to.
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