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I asked about the office being so busy and she said it was because of the holiday on the past Monday when the office was closed, (Labor Day federal holiday). That explains it, however, she did seem to indicate that the office is usually quite busy all the time anyway. That's most likely due to the demographics of the area in which I live. I'll make sure to have an appointment next time.
The sheet the SS lady gave me included step-by-step instructions on setting up my account. It only took about five minutes. Afterward, I generated and printed out a statement like they used to mail to us. It looks exactly the same, colors and all. It is in the form of a PDF file.
After looking the statement over, I'm going to do everything in my power and ability to wait before drawing benefits until I'm 70. It's a huge increase if I can hold off; almost double the amount between claiming at 62 and at 70. Not quite double, but pretty close.
I would much rather go in person than try to deal with them on the phone. For those who are still working, it's kind of difficult to talk about personal information at the job and if you have to be put on hold, you are tying up time that is not your own. But even doing it from home after work leaves a lot to be desired because things can get complex and for me, it's just easier to talk to someone face to face.
Sometimes there are glitches and you have to come in anyway. That happened to me. The nice lady who helped me out found a problem and she commented that it was a good thing I hadn't tried to do my transactions over the phone or online because I would have had to have wound up coming in anyway. She was able to take care of the problem right then and there.
If you live in a large city, don't go to the biggest office. A neighbor told me about one in my area that was off the beaten path and she never had to wait longer than ten to fifteen minutes as opposed to the main one downtown where everyone went. But if you do want to go to the main office because it's more convenient, make an appointment. They encourage you to do so. I did that and I just waited about ten minutes and sailed ahead of all the walk-ins.
Even if you do make an appointment, don't make it after a holiday. You know everyone will be doing the same. Mondays and Fridays, the first of the month and the last are always the busiest too.
The thing is, if you don't use a little common sense, you can't really them for your being inconvenienced.
I had the same problem when I tried to create my online account with SS. I found out what the issue was by doing a Google search, I simply went online and temporarily lifted the credit freeze from my Experian account (you can also do it by phone). You can lift the freeze for x number of days and/or for a specific inquiry. It only cost me $5.00 to do so. So for those of you wanting to create an online SSA account, keep that in mind if you also have a freeze on your credit.
Once a person is receiving the Social Security retirement benefit, I don't see much point in having an on-line account. There can be exceptions, such as when part of the benefit is being withheld because one is earning too much money (and is not yet of "full retirement age"); in that case it would be nice to see exactly what is going on.
Otherwise SS will send letters explaining the annual changes in benefits resulting from the COLA's and from any continued earnings which may cause a recalculation of the benefit. I have both of those increases every year; in the latter case even my small earnings from dabbling around are enough to increase my benefit two or three dollars a month because I have a lot of zeros in the averaging.
I like having the online account, as I can change my contact information, direct deposit information, request a statement of benefits letter, request a replacement card, view all payment information, etc. without ever calling or making a visit to an office.
I like having the online account, as I can change my contact information, direct deposit information, request a statement of benefits letter, request a replacement card, view all payment information, etc. without ever calling or making a visit to an office.
Excellent point. We all tend to reason from our own narrow point of view, which is the error I fell into because of the fact that I do not anticipate ever having to change my contact information or direct deposit information or request a statement of benefits letter, etc. before my death.
Excellent point. We all tend to reason from our own narrow point of view, which is the error I fell into because of the fact that I do not anticipate ever having to change my contact information or direct deposit information or request a statement of benefits letter, etc. before my death.
Lol I keep hoping this information will stop changing, but as yet it hasn't happened for me!
The wait at a local SS office depends heavily on the location, and the demographics of the population it serves. In Florida, the office was standing room only every open hour of every day. The local office in rural TN -totally different. Hubs wanted to go in instead of changing his address online. We were the only people in the lobby, and were done in a few minutes. Wish I'd worked in this office instead of in FL!
I was in the same situation. I temporarily unfroze my credit for 30 days for $10.00 through Experian and ran my Vantage score and all my Social Security numbers. You can unfreeze for as little as 7 days. That is the easiest way.
I've NEVER frozen my Experian credit report and I'm getting the same BS link about MY SS # popping up.... Does anyone have an answer to that?
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