Need weekend SSA office appointment - full time worker struggling to make calls during business hours
I'm at my wit's end trying to schedule an appointment with Social Security! I work full-time Monday through Friday, 8-5, and simply CAN'T stay on hold for 2+ hours during work hours. My supervisor is already giving me the side-eye whenever I step away for personal calls. I need to discuss my retirement options since I'm turning 62 next March, but also want to understand how spousal benefits might work since my husband is already receiving SSDI. Is there ANY way to schedule an in-person appointment for a SATURDAY? Or maybe early evening hours? The online system keeps directing me to call the 800 number, which brings me back to square one. Has anyone successfully scheduled an after-hours appointment? Or found another solution for us working folks?
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Grant Vikers
Unfortunately SSA offices are only open Monday-Friday 9-4 and they don't offer weekend appointments. Your best options are: 1) Use your lunch break to call right when they open at 9am, 2) Take a personal day, 3) See if you can schedule online through mySSA account (some field offices offer this now), or 4) Use their online services to apply for retirement benefits without an appointment. For spousal benefits with an SSDI spouse, you'll definitely want to discuss options in person though, as that gets complicated with the family maximum benefit calculations.
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Amaya Watson
•Thanks for the straight answer, even if it's not what I hoped to hear. My lunch break is only 30 minutes, definitely not enough time! I guess I'll have to burn a vacation day. So frustrating that in 2025 a government agency doesn't have appointment scheduling that works for employed people.
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Giovanni Martello
same boat! i ended up taking a sick day last month. called at 9:01am, waited 1hr 45min to speak to someone, just to make an appointment! the earliest they could get me in was 3 weeks out. system is broken
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Savannah Weiner
•I had to do the same thing. Missed half a day of work just to SCHEDULE an appointment. Then took another day off for the actual appointment. It's ridiculous they don't have an online scheduling system in this day and age! The SSA is stuck in 1985.
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Levi Parker
Have you tried going to the office in person to make the appointment? Sometimes that works better than calling, at least in my experience.
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Amaya Watson
•Hmmm, I hadn't thought of that. I could maybe swing by right when they open at 9 and be a little late to work. Better than taking a whole day off! Thanks for the suggestion.
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Libby Hassan
I found a service called Claimyr that can help you get through to a Social Security agent without the ridiculous wait times. Basically they call SSA for you and when they reach an agent, they connect you. I used it last month when I was having the same problem - working full time and couldn't stay on hold forever. The service got me through to SSA in about 15 minutes instead of hours. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. Definitely worth checking out if you're stuck like I was.
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Hunter Hampton
•I've used Claimyr too and can confirm it works as advertised. Once you get through to schedule the appointment, make sure to request the first appointment of the day (usually 9am) or right after lunch (1pm) as those tend to run most on schedule. For retirement at 62 with a spouse on SSDI, bring your birth certificate, marriage certificate, and most recent tax return to your appointment.
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Sofia Peña
THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO MAKE PPL GIVE UP!!!!! i waited 2.5 HOURS only to get disconnected when someone FINALLY answered!!!! had to start ALL OVER AGAIN the next day. took a WEEK of trying before i got thru. they WANT us to miss work because they DONT CARE about working ppl!!!!!
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Giovanni Martello
•ikr? my neighbor said the same thing happened to her 3 times. disconnected after waiting forever. she gave up and just went to the office without an appointment and had to wait 4 hours but at least got seen that day
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Grant Vikers
One important note about your situation - since your husband is on SSDI and you're considering early retirement at 62, you should know that you likely won't be able to collect both your own retirement and spousal benefits simultaneously. You'll get the higher of the two amounts. Also, filing at 62 means a permanent reduction of about 30% compared to your Full Retirement Age (FRA). The spousal benefit maximum is 50% of your husband's Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), but that's also reduced if you claim before your FRA. This is exactly the kind of complex situation where an in-person appointment is valuable.
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Amaya Watson
•This is exactly why I need to talk to someone! I had no idea about these reductions. My husband gets about $2,100/month on SSDI. My own benefit at 62 would be around $1,650 according to my SS statement. Sounds like I need to really understand the math here before making any decisions.
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Levi Parker
My sister works full time too and she said her office had an online form specifically for requesting a callback. Have you checked your local office's website? Some have different options than others.
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Amaya Watson
•I'll check right now! That would be amazing if my local office had that option. The national website didn't mention anything like that, but maybe the local one does. Fingers crossed!
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