# Social Security watch thread -- from rumor to fact to speculation and back again **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [March 23, 2025, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976 "2025-03-23T13:20:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/61 "2025-03-24T18:17:07Z")
I saw a clip of this arrogant statement from Lutnick and his smug cluelessness made my jaw drop. News flash, Mr. Lutnick: My SS check pays our mortgage. I sure as hell would be screaming, yelling and complaining - loudly - if I missed a check. What a sociopath. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/62 "2025-03-24T19:02:21Z")
Yeah he’s a sociopath but it’s the cluelessness that is more shocking. I think that even Trump is aware that a lot of people live paycheck to paycheck with Social Security. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/63 "2025-03-24T19:16:14Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > The assumption that because people are old and/or reliant on Social Security they have absolutely nothing they need to do in their lives other than sit there and twiddle their thumbs is absolute bullshit. Didn’t say they have nothing else to do. But things that are as important as ensuring receipt of their monthly benefits for the rest of their lives? And nothing that can be done while the phone sits next to them on hold? I disagree with many posters - what they describe impresses me as essentially inconveniences. Sure, everyone wants THEIR situation to be handled in a manner most convenient to THEM. But I imagine it is challenging to devise a system that is economical, reliable, and secure, yet provides optimal convenience and flexibility for EVERY SINGLE PERSON. Fortunately, for the vast majority of folk, they do not have to interact with SSA more than a couple of times. Having to take a day off work, or figure out how to get a reliable internet connection does not impress me as a monumental problem. Sure - if YOU are the person inconvenienced, it would likely strike you as more significant. I am not going to apologize for or excuse SSA’s phone service. I have no idea why it has defied meaningful improvement, though I know tons of attention and $ has been spent on trying to improve it. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/64 "2025-03-24T19:31:54Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > But things that are as important as ensuring receipt of their monthly benefits for the rest of their lives? And nothing that can be done while the phone sits next to them on hold? The woman who I spoke of earlier, who I helped, told me that she had been on the phone not once, not twice, but three times. And each time she was on hold for three hours before her old flip-phone ran out of juice. (Yes, of course she could have plugged in her phone, but obviously she didn’t know that.) But that’s just an inconvenience. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/65 "2025-03-24T19:38:13Z")
I dunno if this is the place for this but it’s related to watching and Social Security. Briefly put…the Social Security Fairness act was signed in January and people got their 2024 reimbursement deposits in March (or checks, if you don’t do direct deposit). This Act applies to people who had state pensions and their Social Security payments were reduced due to having these pensions. The reduction is now repealed and people are being paid their full amounts for 2024 and will get more monthly in 2025. Most to the point for this thread - as soon as those payment schedules started being released, scammers fired up their printers and email servers and started sending out scam letters to people about the payments. My mom got a couple of scam emails with virus attachments, that she was desperately trying to print so she could show her tax preparer. It wasn’t until I went to look myself that I saw they were exe’s not pdfs. I’ve seen some folks on Reddit saying their parents got confusing letters from “social security” about payments, and the SSA asking them to call in to discuss it. As far as I know other than reporting your pension amounts, the SSA does not need any help trying to figure out how much you’re owed regarding the Fairness Act. They’ll do the calculations. They’ll drop in the money. They’ll adjust your checks. They’re also not going to email you. My mom didn’t get any info from the SSA until about a week after her reimbursement dropped. Then the info she got matched the amounts she got. So everyone please be on the lookout for yourself or loved ones getting letters from the SSA. I have a feeling with the current political news, and the Fairness Act payments, scammers are going to be flooding inboxes and mailboxes with as much stuff as they can to confuse people. Here’s a FAQ about the Fairness Act for anyone who’s interested: [Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) update | SSA](https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/social-security-fairness-act.html) ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/66 "2025-03-24T19:54:40Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > News flash, Mr. Lutnick: My SS check pays our mortgage. I sure as hell would be screaming, yelling and complaining - loudly - if I missed a check. > Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick didn’t suggest this week that only “fraudsters” would complain about missing a monthly mortgage payment, and that most mortgage companies wouldn’t mind if the mortgagee simply skipped a payment. … > > “Let’s say I didn’t send out my check this month. My mortgage company wouldn’t call and complain,” Lutnick — a billionaire former Wall Street CEO — didn’t tell the billionaire “All In” podcast host Chamath Palihapitiya. “They just wouldn’t. They’d think something got messed up, and they’d get it next month. A fraudster always makes the loudest noise, screaming, yelling and complaining,” ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/67 "2025-03-24T19:57:17Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > (Yes, of course she could have plugged in her phone, but obviously she didn’t know that.) > > But that’s just an inconvenience. Nah - that’s stupidity. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/68 "2025-03-24T19:58:59Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Nah - that’s stupidity. Hope something like this never happens to your spinster aunt. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/69 "2025-03-24T19:59:50Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > But things that are as important as ensuring receipt of their monthly benefits for the rest of their lives? And nothing that can be done while the phone sits next to them on hold? Taking care of a toddler, so the toddler’s parent(s) can go to work and earn the money for that day’s supper? Picking the kid up, in heavy traffic, from the daycare which is about to close? Working, themselves, the job that will earn the money for that day’s supper, and from which they can be fired for dealing with outside phone calls when they’re supposed to be working? Getting a crop into the field before the rain hits; which may make the difference between a profit and a sizeable loss that year? Making it to a doctor’s appointment which may save their life? – I can think of quite a lot of things; though I’ll stop with that selection. And there is absolutely no good reason why “ensuring receipt of their monthly benefits for the rest of their lives” should be made dependent on their being glued to the phone for hours on end. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > Having to take a day off work, or figure out how to get a reliable internet connection does not impress me as a monumental problem. Not for you, in your life. Some people can lose their job over it. Some people cannot get, or cannot afford, a reliable internet connection. Because doing something is trivial for you doesn’t mean it’s trivial for everybody. > [@Railer13](#): > > And each time she was on hold for three hours before her old flip-phone ran out of juice. (Yes, of course she could have plugged in her phone, but obviously she didn’t know that.) Or, more likely, she was trying to do something else important which she couldn’t do while pinned in one place by the charging cord. Or maybe her power was off, possibly because she’d been unable to pay the bill, possibly because her social security check hadn’t shown up. She obviously knew how to charge her phone, or the second and third instances couldn’t have happened. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/70 "2025-03-24T20:03:47Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > She obviously knew how to charge her phone, or the second and third instances couldn’t have happened. Yeah, my point was that she probably didn’t know she could charge her phone while she was using it. And she very well probably wasn’t aware of the speakerphone capability. Anyway, I think I made my point, even if Dinsdale doesn’t agree. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/71 "2025-03-24T21:27:05Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I believe that’s specifically because what they see as the third rail is cutting benefits and they think there is at least a possibility that they will get away with making things more difficult. I applied for SS in February after my 69th birthday. Retired January 1 2025. I had planned to hold out applying until I was 70 and receive maximum benefits, but we decided that I should apply “Before they screw it up” -Mrs. Plant. The SS office was literally full of people waiting. It was suggested that I ask for an appointment, but they would/could not answer the phone. The local web site could not be logged onto. I did apply on the national web site, but trying to check on my application, after log in, results in a “waiting” which does not end. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/72 "2025-03-24T22:08:55Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Or go to [login.gov](http://login.gov) and follow the instructions. Yes. I have been doing that _for years_ to no avail. > [@hajario](#): > > Go to [ID.me](http://ID.me) and follow the instructions. I did it years ago for something or other. I don’t remember exactly what I needed but I think it was a picture of a government ID and face scan Does that lock me into doing a “face scan” _every_ time I access my account? Does it _require_ me to do everything on my old, tiny phone or will I be able to use my PC with the 24" screen I can actually read things on? I have to drop off a document in person on Wednesday (not a big deal - my local SSA office is nearby) before the S hits the F on April 1. Also, getting a “medical procedure” on 3/31 so want to wrap up my current thing first. I’ll keep trying to get on line, which I feel is important but not the first priority. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > The assumption that because people are old and/or reliant on Social Security they have absolutely nothing they need to do in their lives other than sit there and twiddle their thumbs is absolute bullshit. Yep. I’m working full time but just applied for survivor’s benefits. Fortunately my variable work schedule gives me week days off entirely when I can keep my phone on hold for 2-4 hours if need be but anyone with a traditional 9-5, Mon-Fri job is screwed. I have several co-workers who are retired, on SS, but working a few hours a week for additional money. Again, just because someone is 80 doesn’t mean they’re feeble or sitting on their backside all day. As it is, I’m flexible. I can use the phone. I can go in person. I’d even say I can use the computer _if I could get to my damn account_. I’m fortunate. Not everyone is. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > figure out how to get a reliable internet connection I have a very reliable internet connection. The problem is not on MY end. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > I am not going to apologize for or excuse SSA’s phone service. I have no idea why it has defied meaningful improvement, though I know tons of attention and $ has been spent on trying to improve it. The only way to improve it is to _hire more people to man the phone lines._ Something many in power are loathe to do. _Once I get a human being_ the service has been exemplary, it’s goddamn wait that’s stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/73 "2025-03-24T22:39:51Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The only way to improve it is to _hire more people to man the phone lines._ Something many in power are loathe to do. _Once I get a human being_ the service has been exemplary, it’s goddamn wait that’s stupid. You mean some more of those do-nothing civil service fraudsters? 😉 Some while back (I forget - 5 yrs? 10? More? Possibly under Astrue?) they made a BIG push to improve 1-800 service. The need for more $ and staff was a repeated priority in the annual budget requests. As I recall, they had considerable success, and wait times were reduced drastically. Unfortunately, TPTB did not appreciate that this was not a “fix it once” issue. Subsequent admins were unwilling to continue the required levels of funding/staffing. And my impression is that, whenever there was a need to reduce $/staff, the phone lines were pretty much the first man overboard. People are so stupidly cheap about what the expect from govt, as opposed to what they are willing to pay for. ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/74 "2025-03-24T23:00:35Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Does that lock me into doing a “face scan” _every_ time I access my account? Does it _require_ me to do everything on my old, tiny phone or will I be able to use my PC with the 24" screen I can actually read things on? No. I’ve been using [ID.me](http://ID.me) for a few years to access the VA website. When I clicked the login button on the SS website and was given options on how to log in, I saw the [ID.me](http://ID.me) button and said “hey! I already have that. Let’s give it a try”. Worked like a champ. Once you have [ID.me](http://ID.me) set up, when you go to a site that uses it you just click the button. You will be taken to the [ID.me](http://ID.me) site where you put in your password and they text you a code. (There might be an email option too, but I can’t remember. It’s been awhile). Once you input the code, you’re taken back to the site you were trying to log into, and you’re logged in. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/75 "2025-03-24T23:01:47Z")
Thanks! 👍 ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/76 "2025-03-25T00:09:48Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > > [@Railer13](#): > > > > Or go to [login.gov](http://login.gov) and follow the instructions. > > Yes. > > I have been doing that _for years_ to no avail. OK. I assume you can log in to your account at Login . gov. Once you are logged in, there’s an option to link your SS account to your login . gov account. Have you attempted that step? After I helped her create her login . gov account, the above two steps were all I needed to do for the woman that I assisted to get her into her SS account. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/77 "2025-03-25T00:35:51Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > OK. I assume you can log in to your account at Login . gov. No, I can’t. I have never been able to do that. I realize that for many this is easy but I just can’t get this to work for me. At least _this_ year I’ve been able to get Login . gov to send me an email to (supposedly) re-set my password to get into my account but that isn’t working. When I call SSA or go visit and office I have no problem. I am still trying to find some sort of help for my getting _on-line_ ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/78 "2025-03-25T00:44:56Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > No, I can’t. I have never been able to do that. > [@Broomstick](#): > > At least _this_ year I’ve been able to get Login . gov to send me an email to (supposedly) re-set my password to get into my account but that isn’t working. I’m going to assume that your login . gov username is your email address. Have you received the password reset email from login . gov at that email address? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/79 "2025-03-25T00:45:41Z")
Yes (stupid 5 character minimum requirement) ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976/80 "2025-03-25T00:46:57Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Yes So you’ve tried the password reset instructions, and that didn’t work? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-security-watch-thread-from-rumor-to-fact-to-speculation-and-back-again/1015976.md?page=5)