anybody ever had to pay them back?? well i have. I took early SS and never should have done that. but i didn't know. I paid them back at least $10,000 and thought it was all done.
I just got another letter saying i made more than i told them i would in 2009. now owe $5,800.00 -again. taht was the first quote for 2006! oh my soul.
i am looking for the paperwork now and the name of the lady i talked to then. i may just have to call and talk to whom ever answers. first i'm waiting on my old job to let me know the amount i did earn in 2009 before they laid me off.
sigh!!

Oh wow, what a mess for you and I am sure a headache or two also. I will pray for you and this mess with SS.

Ouch! Best of luck, dealing with this!! My heart goes out to you. That's just awful. <<< HUGS >>>>

Yesterday, just for grins & giggles, I looked at some retirement information. Given that a lot of my retirement fund has gone down the drain, and I doubt there'll be SS when I do retire, it was not a bright picture.

But, on a happier note.... hate being down about things that I can't change today.... I have a job, my Bob, and kitty cats. Plus, I love my stash!

I hope you can get something worked out with them. I'll say a prayer for you.

Have you found a good tax attorney who specializes in this sort of thing? A good one can help you sort this out and you'll have no more surprises.

Lab fairy is right...get a good tax attorney. I know too many people that went round and round with SS admin. for years...

My dad is a tax atty but doesn't specialize is social security but some do. I do know that the extra interest imposed on what is owed can be a killer so it pays to get help. Sometimes there are ways to settle the debt without all the excessive penalties.

well all i can say is never take SS early!!! not without knowing all their rules anyway.
I was under a lot of stress and knew a lay off was coming. asked my hubby what to do and never got an answer. so i applied. oh well, things will work out one way or another. i haven't had us starve yet.

why do you have to pay them BACK???? I'm receiving widow's benefits...and no one said anything about paying back.....inquiring minds want to know!!!!

Some people receive benefits then work and earn over a certain amount or were mistakenly granted them in the first place. There are a lot of reasons for paying benefits back if you don't meet criteria. Every case is different and not everyone has to pay SS back.

when you apply, the year you get money early (age 62) you are allowed to only make up to a certain amount for the year before you must pay them half of it back.
when i did that the amount was $11,000.00. I'd already made that much when i applied but didn't know the limit. anything i made over that had to be paid back $1 for every $2 i made over. so half.
last year it'd gone up to at least $13,000.00 you could earn. anything over that you pay some back.
they don't give anything to you without making it difficult. and you call and get different answers from every individual you talk to. just like the IRS.
oh well, i'll call tomorrow. first i must find our 2009 tax folder. maybe more info in that.

Oh that's terrible. I agree, you definitely want to get professional help, they can be a big help. When my mom passed away it was one day before the end of the month, my dad had to return that whole month's check. I thought that was really sleazy. Talk about kicking someone when they are down!

oh yes, i know about having to return the check. it seems to me they always pay you for the past month, not a month ahead-yet they take it back. odd but true.

They've changed this. My DH died on June 11, 2001, his last check was already in the bank. They never asked for it back and when I asked about it and they said they now pay you for the PAST month...so your family don't have to pay back.

I heard that years ago, it isn't anything new.

Oh how terrible! And the govt. wants to run more stuff. Yikes!

I retired this year, one year early and the young woman I talked to made sure I understood that I could only make up to a certain amount since I was retiring June 2nd. I convinced her I was going to be at home making quilts, when I talked to her several days later she even remembered me telling her that. I just finished the 3rd quilt since June 2nd.and I finished one before making them.
Most days of the week I am right here at home. If I go back to work, which I really don't want to do, I will wait until next July, after I reach full retirement age.

Ugh! My Ex passed away Dec 2009 & I had to fight for a little over half of his Soc Sec because he had a 2nd wife. Every wife or husband who the person was married to over 10 yrs is entitled to a portion. I'm a little older than her & she doesn't know it, but that gave me 4% more than she got. I didn't get any of his Military Retirement because of a nasty divorce & his lawyers/judge in this State cotton to the husband. I'm on Soc Sec Disability & when I have to file taxes for 2010, I'm getting help with filing taxes. I've done my taxes every year before now & gotten some back for last couple of years because of my Small Home Based Sewing Bus. Well, my Viking is in at the dealer for cleaning up & I have Home Health Care Nurse & Aides since after my Bilateral Total Knee Replacements/Back problems cropped up again plus other problems, so as long as I don't make over $400 I don't have to report it. I'm under that have to pay back $1 for ev $2 I make, so what's a Lady to do. I have 3 Quilts for Kids I'm working on, plus a quilt for a friend who went thru Hell last year (her house blew up from gas leak/she was in Burn Unit/now lives with her dau & her family), so that will be considered a Charity Quilt. There are a lot of charities I can make items for and stay busy.

God is in control, so he knows why we go through all these challenges. Yes, get a lawyer. They can go to court w/you if Soc Sec tries that. They can help you figure things out & get you on track.

Yes, we did and it seemed like we'd NEVER get them paid back. My husband had lost his leg and was on dissability. SS was sending checks to his ex-wife for their three minor children. When the youngest died in a fire accident she kept right on cashing his checks. Since she never worked they couldn't get any money from her. My husband had just enough taxes taken out of his check so that he didn't get anything back to keep them from taking money from him (he thought that she should have to pay it back). When SS took MY income tax return it came as quite a shock and I almost divorced him because he hadn't told me about it. They took my income tax return (around $2800) for the 3 years. I could have saved it by filing separately but decided that it would be better to be honest enough to pay it although I agreed with my DH that she should have had to pay it back.

That happened to me!! I just Pm you!

YOu know, we that work for our SS benefits have to pay it back. SO stupid. I worked for the State medicaid and food stamps. We had fraud cases in teh thousands and they were not made to pay it back. They would take 10.00 a month off their current Food stamps to pay them back. How dumb was that? Also they can't recoop medical frmo anyone because no one has a job. It's those of us who have money that the govt seems to come after. My SIL's ex gets both their taxes for back child support and he had the girls with him those 3 years. Paperwork...Also he pays back 300.00 a month to medicaid because she won't work. What is wrong with this picture? My daughters dad never paid child support and I never got any back. When I did take him to court and they put him in jail, in one week he walked away and they would not pick him up because I had to go to court again. So after 1600.00 for a lawyer I said forget it. The gov't will take money back from whoever gets taxes back or has an income they can deduct from. At least in the state of Texas you cannot garnish a disability check. I am so sorry for those of use who face this delimma. Our society seems to help the helpless more than those who work hard. Right? Oops I think this is not allowed on the board. No politics. SOrry. Everyone have a great day.

SS is a nightmare all together. Praying that everything works out.

I retired young from the military, so I have a pension (thank God). I plan on taking SS as soon as I'm elligble. I will make sure that I don't exceed the allowed reportable income the year prior to collecting SS, just in case.

However, my hubby will be giving up his consulting business come December because he becomes elligible to collect SS... Do I understand that they will look at reportable income the year PRIOR to collecting??? If this is the case, he's gonna be upset to know he'll have to go another year before he collects any benefits or the actual year that benefits are recieved?

After reading all of this - can I just say....thank God I won't be dealing with social security!

How you might wonder. I work for a university (a "government" agency) and we do not pay into SS. I did not and never will have enough quarters in to have worry about it.

I am planning on retiring in 10 years (at age 52). That will give me 30 years with them. I will be at max retirement earning benefits so will not give them one more day than necessary. If I have to supplement my income it will be with a part time job, but am hoping that won't be necessary.

Folks - instead of getting half answers, or answers that only apply to someone else's situation, I recommend you go to the following site and see what it has to say. EVERY situation MAY be different...and for different reasons. The website is the official SS website: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/

Now - my story. I was married to DH#2 for 16 yrs. He died AFTER he was put on SS disability. According to the rules, if the widow/widower is NOT married when they turn 60, then they can claim 75% of that disabled person's SS (not sure if it's ALL SS, but you get my drift). I DID remarry at 55.....didn't realize what that meant. OH well...it says EVEN if you had gotten married and then divorced you can still get the "widow's benefits". DH#3 and I divorced, got my SS widow's benefits, and then remarried. WHY? Because DH#2 worked 38 yrs and paid into SS the whole time. When he applied for benefits, they denied him.....THREE times! Finally got smart and got an attorney and the attorney was able to get the benefits started...9 months before he died...after he was totally disabled!!!!! He was so angry he said to be sure and get those benefits. I made the mistake of NOT reading up on it before getting remarried. However, it has all worked out. The time and money SS spent in DENYING his claim could have put more $$ on someone else's table. As it is, they had to pay him anyway.

Just lost what I was typing so hopefully it was deleted. Anyway I know how you feel as about 15 years ago a similar thing happened to me only it was with IRS. Being single it took me a long time to get it straighten out and I still boil when I think of how much interest I paid out. Needless to say I check and recheck everything now.

You poor thing! I hope you get the mess straightened out with SS. It sure can be frustrating dealing with GOV agencies. Best luck in getting the mess resolved.

I know it doesn't seem like much, but the thing I tell my friends when they are having a bad is this:

God made a sunrises so that we can start over brand new every day.

After some tragic family losses, this is sometimes the only thing that keeps me going.