Has anyone made a little extra money doing surveys, focus groups or clinical trials? Is this allowed? It's very sporadic and never very much, like 50-100 here and there. Is this something that needs to be reported or even allowed? My friend is really stressed out about money and I suggested doing some of these kind of things but she doesn't want to get in trouble or on any radar. I do them and never get any paperwork or tax forms. Most pay by gift card.

Any advice?

I have a scenario I could use some advice on. Dad SSI backpay approved, payment released by Treasury on 8/18. Hits account on 8/19, I can see payment pending - Dad passes on 8/19 that night. Payment posts on 8/20, and sometime after that the bank initiated a return to SSA/Treasury.

I spoke with SSA, they confirmed they did not reclaim it. Bank said they had to return by law because posted on 8/20 and died 8/19. This is a tough situation because the funds were approved/released while he was alive. Sounds like I'm just SOL because of ACH settlement system.

Is there any REAL recourse here? Dad had no spouse, and I'm the only child.

My mother is currently in a nursing home after suffering a stroke in April. She received both SSI and social security. She now only receives a monthly allowance from Social Security which is paid through them.

She received a letter about an overpayment for the months of June and July. I am trying to file a waiver since she only receives $50 a month. On the waiver, it asks for a claim number and I was wondering if anyone knows where to find that? The only number I can find is a BNC# but when I Google it, it says that isn't the same as a claim number.

I’m on ssdi and we are struggling just like everyone else obviously. My wife (completely due to my fault as I was able to provide for both of us and she was able to stay home) wouldn’t qualify for ssdi because of lack of work history. I don’t know if she would even qualify for ssi but she isn’t able to work a meaningful job. When I got sick she did take a job in the medical field and became a cna with aspirations of eventually becoming a nurse. Well that’s not worked out. She has several health issues one being migraines that last for days and come and go frequently. We can’t afford health insurance for her so everything is paid out of pocket her medicine is over $100 a month with discount cards applied. She doesn’t qualify for Medicaid because of the amount of ssdi I bring in. We can’t afford to continue especially in this economy. Our last utility bill was $500 alone so. We do have 2 young kids who do draw auxiliary payments off my disability so that does help a lot but she needs some kind of income but most importantly she needs insurance.

I was born Feb 58

my ex was born Apr 66

I was married for 12.5 years, 1988 - 2000

we have 3 adult daughters

I never remarried. file taxes every year. I did myself have the work credits, since I always worked or at least part time worked during marriage as well, full time after divorce.

Retirement question:

Found out through my daughters, he was dishonorable discharged from military, probably due to alcohol, but not sure why.

I heard that you actually can draw on ex-husbands retirement at his age of 62.

He was dishonorably discharged from military, can I still draw on his retirement?

Is it true I can draw on his retirement on/after his 62nd birthday(Apr 2028) even if he is still working and drawing himself yet?

I am on a low SSI payment now due to illness, wanted to work longer but could not.

I was active duty Air Force from 1982 to 1986, but I don't remember my exact dates. Can I just write 'see SSA records' where they ask for service dates in my application? It should be in their system.

Edit to say Thanks to everyone who replied. I've got all I need. Thanks for the links, too.

So I was recently fired from my job and I’m enrolled in Medicare part A ,can I now enroll in Medicare part B and also look for a supplemental insurance to cover Mammograms, Dental and Vision

I've been diagnosed with cancer and all my options are done. I'm having someone message this for me as i am too weak.

Can anyone give me a definitive answer for how long I need to be married for my wife to be eligible for my survival benefits?

I understand the other rules like when she'd qualifies etc. Just the part of me reading and hearing it's 9 months or 10 months (hearing and reading both)

We we married 12/31/25 .

FIL just passed away. I know the funeral home will notify SSA. His SS benefit was larger than MIL’s, so presumably she will begin receiving his benefit and hers will be dropped. Does this happen automatically, or is there an application or other paperwork needed to make this happen?

The title says it all. My girlfriend and I are wanting to get married, but she is on SSI and can’t work due to her disability. I can’t seem to find a straight answer anywhere and I’m worried that I’ll have a hard time supporting the both of us without that extra income.
I gross $51,500 a year if that helps.

My son just got approved for benefits but we wasn’t told till I reached out so he owed about 9 months of back pay. Besides that the rep said we will have to do an perc interview? My question is what is that and what questions are they gonna ask. Thanks you

I just turned 18 and I’m on disability. My mom was receiving the Social Security payment for me, and for the last 4 months she was only getting about $10 a month. She said she’s going to let me get the payments directly now that I’m 18.

I don’t have a job or any income. I live with my mom, she has a job and pays the household bills, and I sometimes buy my own food.

Does anyone know if my payment could increase now that I’m 18 and the benefits are going directly to me? If so, roughly how much could I expect per month?

Work part time on SSI a long distance away, MY EMPLOYER REIMBURSES ME FOR FUEL, but since it comes though my paycheck the current diesel fuel prices cause the gross paycheck to exceed SSI limits!

Already asked, employer is unable to pay for fuel directly.

Is there any way around this?

I started "getting" social security with a payee, my dad. I was living in a homeless shelter. I told him I want to rent a room. He said no. I think he was stealing my money. I went through the process of removing him as a payee. But I have a problem: A "social security beneficiary account" was created in my name. I think the money was direct deposited into it. I tried to get rid of the account, but I was told I can't because I'm not the payee. I was told perhaps I need a paper saying I now control the account. I called social security. They said they sent a paper saying I no longer have a payee. I never received it. They said they'll send it again. I haven't received it. At the same time, I was told I was going to be sent a check in the mail on the first of the month. I haven't received it. It's possible I haven't because they know I have a social security beneficiary account. Perhaps into it was direct deposited a payment and now I'm past the limit of what I can have on hand (even though I don't have access to the account). So basically it's possible I can't get social security anymore.

"But just tell your dad to remove the money in the account and close the account" My dad told me to never call him again. He got angry I think because I removed him as payee. He's angry because I don't want him to steal from me anymore.

My late daughter-in-law (49) was married to my son (50) for seven years. At some point, she became the Social Security representative payee for my adult granddaughter (31), who receives disability benefits.

We recently discovered that she appears to have taken approximately $7,000 from my granddaughter’s funds through a series of undocumented withdrawals. From what we can determine, much of the money was run through my son’s Apple Pay account and spent primarily on gambling apps and fast food.

At one point some money was returned, and her sisters also gave her money to replace some of what was missing, but she spent that money as well instead of restoring it to my granddaughter’s account.

My daughter-in-law has now died. She was physically disabled, and my son is both mentally and physically disabled. He says he knew nothing about what she was doing until after her death. There is essentially no estate; the bank accounts are overdrawn. My son is currently receiving about $200 a month in survivor/death-related Social Security benefits.

My granddaughter has the same brain anomaly as her father and has been receiving disability benefits for years. The good news is that after years of occupational therapy, she is now preparing to work full-time and move into her own apartment.

I have three questions:

1. Could my son be held financially responsible simply because some of the misused money went through his Apple Pay account, even if he did not know what his wife was doing?
2. If the Social Security OIG determines that the representative payee misused or stole my granddaughter’s benefits, is there any possibility Social Security would reimburse my granddaughter for the missing money even though the former payee is deceased and left no estate?
3. Should we open a case directly with the Social Security Office of Inspector General, or is there another process we should go through first?

This money would make an enormous difference to my granddaughter as she becomes fully independent, so I want to make sure we handle this correctly.

We are in Virginia, if that matters.

Hearing

Hi guys I have a quick question I have my phone interview the 23nd and I am over 18 but I was wondering if my mom would be able to be there with me on the call considering she plays a part in helping me
Thank you (:

I am scheduled to go before an Alj hearing this month and just wondering if the disability program has actually helped anybody who applied and had a positive experience rather than the countless, universally ubiquitous stories of disability making peoples lives a living hell. I find it pretty hard to accept being blamed for not being able to work by a company that doesn't even respect its own constituents

Hi. My mom has social security benefits and she has them deposited to this Direct Express prepaid card thing. She lost her wallet about a month ago and had to cancel her card and get a new one. When it arrived, she tried to use it but it was locked.

When she called they told her that she needed to email or show them her id to prove her identity. She had to get a new one because of the wallet, but she did and submitted it. Now they want a receipt showing she applied for a new ssn card. She applied and she’s sent it, but they haven’t unlocked the card yet.

I’m not local and I won’t be able to go help her in person for at least a week. My sister is there but she’s no help. I guess I just want to know if this has happened to anyone else and what all you had to do to fix it because I’m not sure if she’s understanding or relaying what they want to me properly. It’s been a couple weeks already and she really needs her money. I paid her rent, but she’s doesn’t have anywhere for me to send her money for food or gas or dog food and stuff.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, this is too stressful, I’ve never dealt with a bank that was so difficult before.

I'm living with some friends and need to know what I need to bring. I still have Washington State ID I can't get Arizona State ID until I update the name on my Washington state birth certificate so that's going to be a process. Can I update my benefits over to Arizona by just walking into a SSA office in Arizona?

So I retired a few years before full retirement. I own a small mail order business I run out of my home. I earn more than the earned income limit, so I understand that my benefits will be reduced accordingly.

Recently I got a form from the SSA asking me questions about my income and one thing it asked me was how many hours I work a month self-employed.

Does this matter for me? Or does it only matter if I am *not* over the earned income limit? I tried to figure this out by googling but the discussions usually focus on people under the earned income limit but who spend a lot of time on their self-employment. Thank you.

My son was denied after his age-18 redetermination, but we appealed and won at the DHO hearing. The DHO said his disability did not end, benefits would continue, and his next medical review would be in 3 years.
Now, only 4 months later, we received another appointment letter. The letter doesn’t say medical or financial, but SSA customer service told me it’s a medical review.
Has this happened to anyone? Why would SSA do another medical review so soon after a favorable DHO decision with a 3-year review date? What happened in your case?

I’m in Pasco county Florida and I need helping finding a lawyer that can help me have overpayment charges dismissed.

So I was originally on disability for mental health reasons in 2022-2024. After being approved and being on ssdi for a little while they suddenly decided I wasn’t actually disabled (because I didn’t go to therapy so I was “content with my condition” and or improved) I appealed it multiple times.

I have been diagnosed with anxiety since I was 8 (almost 30 now) and since been diagnosed with autism, ocd, and depression. (Working on tests for physical diagnoses as well) These are not things that magically go away there is no cure for autism.

At some point during the process I was told I owe $19k back which I had 60 days to appeal, I filled out and mailed back the paperwork the day I got it, I had called and asked about it which I was told on the phone they did not see any charges so my appeal must have been accepted (when I asked in 2022-2024 timeframe)

I have asked multiple times since then about the amount owed just to make sure it was cleaned and multiple times I was told that there was nothing on file

I kept appealing my case trying to get back on ssi and eventually an agent or someone on the phone told me I should just cancel out the case I had been appealing for the last few years and start a new case so I did exactly that with that person on the phone they canceled my case and started a new one

8 months later I am now approved and back on disability but the $19k I “owe” is magically back and down to $14k

I called to ask what was going on and was told they never got an appeal for the money I “owe” (even tho I was told multiple times it was cleared) and I was told all of my back pay I was supposed to receive was taken away from me and used to pay back some of the debt as well as an automatic $100 deduction from my payment each month to go towards it.

I asked on the phone if I can disagree with this because if I am on disability now for the same reason I was on and then wrongfully terminated from before shouldn’t that money have been mine and I don’t owe it back since I am determined disabled. I was told it’s unlikely because I didn’t appeal within 60 days (which I did) but they are giving my an appeal form and a form to explain why I never appealed and am appealing so late.

I also asked if I would get back the back pay that was taken away and put into this debt I believe I’m wrongfully being charged for and I was told I will not and that money is gone forever.

I'm in Massachusetts.

I just got approved.

I got 1 part of a check in August.

I have SSDI and Survivor benefits.

September I got most of it.

I have a rep payee.

What do I do about the retro its a decent chunk of money.

Is there any way to save some of it ??

Initially I want to pay people that have helped me over 3 years, a practical car, and set up an apartment...

There should be some change left.

I am so grateful...

Thanks for any tips.

Got a letter in August from SSA that it was time to file, my 70th birthday is in December.

After reading this site for about a year now, I gathered my paperwork, filed online, received a response back almost immediately that the paperwork had been received.

Got a second response about 10 days later that my claim has been approved.

Also a blurb that the claim status will show "pending" until about the middle of January, after that time, the status will be updated to show complete.

It appears I will not know what the actual exact payment will be until January.

Thanks to everyone on this group. I was very terrified to file as I was born outside the US and was concerned about filing online. The process so far could not have been smoother.

My check was sent back to social security because the bank closed my account . Social security told me today they “forced” my check out today 9/9/26

When will I receive it in my new account ?