Soc Sec workers and the system is great; has been working great; personal example

[uihawk82]

Please read. My wife and I in our early 70's have started helping my nearly 65 year old niece because of some health problems. We have shown her that moving from her widow Soc Sec SS to her regular Soc Sec would give her $900 more per month even though she is taking it early. Still the right deal for her. So we helped her get that. We have been on the phone with a SS about a her disability claim and the two legal firms that she somehow got working for her.

First, the SS agent got her stalled claim moving, told us the forms we needed to get filled out, and the form to complete and fax to SS to remove those two law groups from taking a bunch of her disabilty earnings. This claim is now progressing and if she gets it the rules are she would move to her 100% monthly full benefit amount.

And two weeks ago she lost her handbag or it was stolen. We didnt know it but she said her SS card as well as her drivers license was in it. We have been looking for it to no avail.

Then she gets a letter that we are monitoring saying her SS direct deposit bank info had been changed. We did a fraud claim and then waited for 2 hours on the phone for SS customer service (sure go ahead and fire a bunch of them idiot musk). This lady was so great and good. She even reached into the Treasury database which actually controls the online payments and put our niece's routing and account numbers in to beat the March deadline and she will not miss a check. And the SS worker said she could put on a Fraud alert on the record to make an in person office visit mandatory to change this info.

There is no waste or only slight waste in that system where 58,000 employes get 71 million Americans their checks each month. **** Orange Musk

 

[binsfeldcyhawk2]

There is no waste or only slight waste in that system where 58,000 employes get 71 million Americans their checks each month. **** Orange Musk

How do you know that?

 

[goldmom]

As the government moves more and more to automation and inevitably incorporating AI are we really going to need 58,000 people? Is that a legitimate question posed in a non- political way?

 

[theiacowtipper]

As the government moves more and more to automation and inevitably incorporating AI are we really going to need 58,000 people? Is that a legitimate question posed in a non- political way?

I have absolutely no problem with measured deliberate approach to cutting government.

 

[Gimmered]

As the government moves more and more to automation and inevitably incorporating AI are we really going to need 58,000 people? Is that a legitimate question posed in a non- political way?

We are at a 50 year low for agents working at the Social security and have the highest number of people enrolling. They are also stuck with a computer system from 1975 because Congress won't approve upgrades.
You are correct, if we invest into better systems, we could use less people. It will also help when we have people enrolling that have an understanding of computers.
2-4 hours on hold right now is a real thing.

 

[uihawk82]

How do you know that?

The trust fund and all the workings are audited to the end of the Earth. The govt does have a ton of auditors, congress has them, the Social Sec Admin has them, other watchdogs audit them. The auditors get plaudits and their glory by finding problems but have you ever heard of SS fraud for all the people yelling about it?

PRof Lawrence Koltikoff (spelling ?) is an Econ expert on SSec and I have read a couple of his books. He says the whole idea of the SS trust fund going broke is not true as even if the fund shrinks some people will get about 80% of what they normally would get. He also talks about the main ways to fix/bolster SS and that is where I get my talking points.

 

[jonesy5960]

Please read. My wife and I in our early 70's have started helping my nearly 65 year old niece because of some health problems. We have shown her that moving from her widow Soc Sec SS to her regular Soc Sec would give her $900 more per month even though she is taking it early. Still the right deal for her. So we helped her get that. We have been on the phone with a SS about a her disability claim and the two legal firms that she somehow got working for her.

First, the SS agent got her stalled claim moving, told us the forms we needed to get filled out, and the form to complete and fax to SS to remove those two law groups from taking a bunch of her disabilty earnings. This claim is now progressing and if she gets it the rules are she would move to her 100% monthly full benefit amount.

And two weeks ago she lost her handbag or it was stolen. We didnt know it but she said her SS card as well as her drivers license was in it. We have been looking for it to no avail.

Then she gets a letter that we are monitoring saying her SS direct deposit bank info had been changed. We did a fraud claim and then waited for 2 hours on the phone for SS customer service (sure go ahead and fire a bunch of them idiot musk). This lady was so great and good. She even reached into the Treasury database which actually controls the online payments and put our niece's routing and account numbers in to beat the March deadline and she will not miss a check. And the SS worker said she could put on a Fraud alert on the record to make an in person office visit mandatory to change this info.

There is no waste or only slight waste in that system where 58,000 employes get 71 million Americans their checks each month. **** Orange Musk

There is plenty of waste and fraud everywhere, including the SS administration and corporate America. Size breeds waste and fraud. It's just the nature of things.

 

[Gimmered]

The trust fund and all the workings are audited to the end of the Earth. The govt does have a ton of auditors, congress has them, the Social Sec Admin has them, other watchdogs audit them. The auditors get plaudits and their glory by finding problems but have you ever heard of SS fraud for all the people yelling about it?

PRof Lawrence Koltikoff (spelling ?) is an Econ expert on SSec and I have read a couple of his books. He says the whole idea of the SS trust fund going broke is not true as even if the fund shrinks some people will get about 80% of what they normally would get. He also talks about the main ways to fix/bolster SS and that is where I get my talking points.

The Social Security "trust" was built from 1980 to 2010 when we had many more people paying in than drawing out. The trust would have been gone around 2034 as it were. The idiotic Social Security fairness act that Biden signed into law will cut that to 2032. In 7 years, we all will be taking a 30%+ cut in social security. I'm not planning on retiring until I'm 67 in 2 years. I've already taken a 15% cut by increasing my retirement age to 67.
I've been paying into the system since 1976. Politicians on both sides have ****ed me over on social security by doing nothing to preserve it.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

People can hate the "government". But 99.9% of the people that work there are just like everyone else. Working to do their job.

Sure, I've encountered some folks that weren't particularly good at their job, but on average their job performance is at least as high as it is in the private sector.

I'm a retired CPA. My job often required me to deal with the IRS and SS. Other than long wait times, I was rarely disappointed in the service.

 

[goldmom]

I was well treated when I went to the SS office and I thought the staff was well trained and very professional.
Not all of the 58,000 people are in DC. They’re out all across the country and helping people locally.
The upgrades in technology are very overdue just like they are at the IRS. Refusing to budget the improvements is indefensible but I have to wonder if it means trimming the staff and the loss of any jobs makes Congressional representatives nervous at election time?