Transcription
A very popular option nowadays is just to move overseas. I get calls from people, and people check into the live Q&A, which I'm about to start here in a little bit. But let's first talk about those people that are currently living overseas or thinking about living overseas or never thought about it, but maybe now you might definitely consider it.
Some countries have a cost of living that is significantly lower. Forty percent of Americans today in the United States live on Social Security alone, and in most parts of the country, that is very, very difficult. So, an option is to move overseas. I've seen, within the last few weeks, I've been contacted by people from Portugal, Panama, the Philippines—not sure, it's all the P countries—but also Costa Rica, Germany, and yeah, all over the world.
People are receiving disability benefits, retirement benefits, survivor benefits, and they are living overseas. So, let's talk about that today. If you're new to my channel, my name is Ed. I ran the third business security office in the country, and now I'm helping you make sure you get all the benefits you earned.
All right, let's go down it. The most important thing is, are you a U.S. citizen? If you want to collect your Social Security benefits overseas, it's very, very easy if you're a U.S. citizen, except for a couple of places. If you were interested in joining the beaches in North Korea or Cuba, unfortunately, no. Social Security cannot send money to those particular countries.
The Department of Treasury has some other countries in Eastern Europe and stuff they're very hesitant to, but we'll talk about kind of a workaround on that one. If you are legally a permanent resident, it's a little more difficult depending on which country you're going to go to. There is a tool that you can use. Let me go ahead and pop it up here.
You go onto the Social Security website and you type in "payments abroad screening tool." I've got this tool linked in the description on my YouTube channel, so you just go to my YouTube channel. I've got a bunch of links there, including this one right here. This is for people with a green card who want to receive Social Security but want to go back to their own country or go wherever.
It's a bit different depending on what country you're going to move to, so make sure you go through there and check it out. But I'm going to focus today on just basically U.S. citizens and U.S. citizens moving abroad. That's the easiest way, but most of this also applies to anybody if you're allowed to based on the screening tool.
If you are currently receiving benefits, then you know that it's always better for those people that tried to file for benefits while they were overseas, like they were 60 or 61 years old, and then they move overseas. They have to go through what's called the federal benefits unit. Those are not really Social Security employees; they're usually embassy staff that are given kind of short training on Social Security.
They just basically take the application and send it to the Office of International Operations, the Social Security Office of International Operations back in Baltimore. But long story short, it takes forever to get your claim processed if you do it that way. So, it's always best to get it done before you leave the United States at your local office or file online, whatever the case may be. That is going to save you a lot of heartache.
But if you're already overseas, then you just have to go through the federal benefits unit, and you have to wait and wait and wait. Well, in the United States, we still have to wait and wait and wait because the customer service is based on the politicians not supporting Social Security. Anyway, I won't get into that. I've talked about that just yesterday, as a matter of fact, in my other video.
By the way, I just went over a thousand videos. I just topped the thousand video mark, so I've been doing this for about a year and a half, and I've already got a thousand videos out there on spouse benefits, survivor benefits, disability, Medicare, Medicaid, all kinds of different things, trying to keep you all up to date.
Okay, what about changing the address? In Social Security, internally, you have a residence address and a mailing address. So, if you want to get your mail in the United States, you have like a mail service or a relative that you want to keep your mail coming into the United States rather than sending it overseas where your actual residence is, then you can use that.
Social Security again always has two addresses on what's called your MBR, your master beneficiary record, your internal record, your residence address and your mailing address. A lot of people, those are the same, but if you're overseas, you might not want your mail to go to wherever you are. So, make sure your mailing address is set up if you're going to be setting up a bank.
All right, so here's an inside scoop on setting up an overseas bank. If you're going to do that, be very careful. Social Security employees, particularly in field offices, often mess this up with the SWIFT codes and all this. They don't do it that often, so an employee might do it once or twice a year, and so they forget how to do it, and quite often they mess it up.
So, here's how you work around that: if you're going to go ahead and change your direct deposit to an overseas bank account, don't close your old bank account. Leave it open, the one that you're actually receiving your direct deposit, your money in now. Leave that one open, change it to your new overseas bank account, and then once you receive your first check, the direct deposit in your new bank account, then you can go ahead and close the old one.
But don't close the old one until you know the new one works. The best thing is to always keep a U.S. bank account, then you can use an ATM or wire transfer or whatever the case may be. One of the other things about living overseas is that if you're in the United States and you pass away, coroners' offices and funeral homes have a system that they can notify the Social Security Administration and the Department of Treasury of a person's passing, so they can stop the checks.
If you're living overseas, obviously that doesn't happen. So, what will happen is every year the Social Security Administration will send you a letter. It's called a proof of life form or "you're not dead" form, and you just have to fill it out and say, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm still living, still alive and kicking," and they will continue your benefits.
If you do not return that form, then they will stop your benefits. They will assume you're no longer around, and they will stop your form. I have heard reports very, very recently that they are letting you attest that over the phone, an online over-the-phone attestation, as we used to call it. Well, they still call it that, but I'm no longer working for the Social Security Administration.
So, yeah, it's called attestation. You call them up. If anybody's done that recently, I'm not sure how effective that is, particularly considering it takes three hours to talk to somebody nowadays. But up until now, it's always been the paper form, and then you'd have to return the paper form. But it sounds like they're trying something different.
All right, so this is for retirement benefits. You can continue to receive retirement benefits from Social Security and live overseas as long as you're a U.S. citizen. There are no issues whatsoever. More power to you if you're receiving survivor benefits; same type of situation, live overseas, no issues.
If you're receiving spouse benefits, divorce spouse benefits, or any other spouse-type benefits, no problem. You can live overseas, no problem at all. If you're receiving SSDI, Social Security Disability Insurance, this is one of the reasons I made this video and kind of titled it the way it is. There was another video out there on social media that was giving out kind of wrong information, so let's correct the record.
If you're receiving SSDI, Social Security Disability Insurance, you can live overseas, no problem. There is no limit to how long you can live overseas. One of the things is that if you are receiving Social Security Disability Insurance and you're under your full retirement age, you just might have a CDR, and if you're receiving disability, you know what that is. It's a continued disability review to see if you're still disabled.
If you don't return those forms, then they will stop your disability for non-compliance. So, you have to make sure you get those forms and complete them correctly. The thing that is incorrect out there in the internet world is that your benefits stop after 30 days if you're overseas. That is incorrect, except unless you're receiving SSI, which is a welfare-based program, Supplemental Security Income.
That's not Social Security; it is administered by Social Security, but it's a welfare-based program that Social Security administers. It comes out of the general tax revenue; it doesn't come out of your Social Security. You can get SSI based on disability or being aged 65 and older. So, if you're going to be overseas for over 30 days, then yes, that will stop.
If you're receiving SSDI and SSI, then your SSI portion of your check will stop, and your SSDI part will continue. There is no limitation on SSDI overseas. The biggest question I get is, "Okay, what about Medicare health overseas?" Medicare Part A and Part B do not cover anything overseas.
There is everything with Social Security Medicare; there's an exception. The exception is not technically overseas, but if you're down near the border in Mexico or up near the border in Canada and you have an emergency, and the closest hospital is just right over the border in Canada, you can go to that Canadian hospital for the emergency. That's pretty much it with Medicare; it doesn't cover anything overseas, really.
If you have a Medicare Supplement Plan, one of those Plan F, Plan N, Plan G, some of those do cover medical emergencies overseas. Usually, it's like a lifetime limit of about $50,000. It's not healthcare-type coverage; it's kind of an emergency that you're living overseas or you're vacationing or whatever the case may be, and then all of a sudden, you wipe out your jet ski and break a bunch of bones or something like that.
So, it's not to go over there for regular healthcare-type stuff, but emergency health. But it really depends on what company you have your Medicare Supplement Plan with. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, those really depend on the particular Medicare Advantage plan, but again, those don't really cover healthcare-type things overseas.
They do cover regular emergency-type stuff, but it really depends on your particular plan. If you're living overseas and you want to go get an x-ray or something like that, it's not going to cover it, but it just might if it's based on some type of emergency.
A lot of people also ask, "Okay, should I even keep Part B if I'm living overseas?" If you're currently receiving retirement benefits, survivor benefits, disability benefits, spouse benefits, and you're 65 years old, you pretty much have to keep Part A. It's zero premium anyway for most people, so you're probably not paying a premium for Part A.
The question is, should you keep Part B? That's the question, and that's the question you have to ask yourself. Because if you don't sign up for Part B when you're supposed to, you know, if you're on disability after being on disability for two years, or just regularly when you turn 65, if you don't sign up and you say, "Well, I'm going to move overseas; I don't need Part B, so I'm not going to sign up for it," okay, fine.
You're not going to be penalized if you never come back. If you never sign up for Part B, then you'll never be penalized because you're not going to sign up for it. But what I see too often is people that say, "Well, I'm out of this country; I'm going to live overseas, and I'm never coming back, so I'm not going to sign up for Part B."
Then a year, two years, three years later, the political situation in that country gets worse, or the political situation in the United States gets better or worse, or you get homesick, or you actually get sick, and you have to come back to the United States. Invariably, what happens is those people come back in June or July in the middle of the year.
Why is that significant? Because they can't sign up for Part B if they didn't do it at the correct time. They can't sign up for Part B until January, February, or March during the general enrollment period. So, people come back in July, and they get sick and have to go to the doctors; they're not covered. All they have is Part A, the hospitals, and they don't have anything to cover the actual doctors and whatever operations.
They have to sit around and wait until January to go ahead and sign up for Part B, and then Part B will start February 1. In the old days, about a year or so ago, they changed the law. It used to start July 1, but they changed it. So, if you sign up in January, your Part B will start February 1. If you sign up in February, it will start March 1, like that.
At that time, you know, Part B is great; it's $185. You're also going to be penalized for every 12-month period you did not have Part B, so that's another penalty for the rest of your life. At that time, you can get maybe a Medicare Supplement, but probably not, depending on your state, because there's health underwriting.
So, you might just be stuck getting a Medicare Advantage plan. Regular viewers of my channel know I always, always, always recommend checking out a Medicare Supplement Plan first, a Plan N or Plan G, and then if it's not for you, usually a budget issue, then check out Medicare Advantage. If you need any help on that, reach out to my partners at Chapter, and they can help you out with all that.
All right, so that is all the lowdown about moving overseas. A lot of people that are getting $1,000, $400 a month in the United States, and that's basically a month full of rent, move overseas, and they live like kings or queens. So, it seems to be a very, very popular option, and I wanted to fill you all in on all of that.
Okay, so now let's get into some actual questions here and see what you all got. Make sure you type your questions down there.
Let's see, Victoria: "My dad is on Social Security Disability. I stay with him. I'm 17 years old. I get a check off my dad's Social Security check. Can I get a part-time job without affecting my checks?"
Yeah, technically you're supposed to stay under the $23,400, but if you're 17 making over that, then more power to you. But yeah, as long as you don't go over the annual earnings limit. Remember, your check is going to stop when you turn 18 years old, but if you're still in high school at that time, you just have to fill out a couple of forms, take it down to Social Security, and your check will continue until you graduate high school or until you're 19 and two months.
Let's see, "I'm on SSDI, turning 65 in May this year. When do I have to switch to regular Social Security?"
You don't. If you're on disability and your disability is continuing, and you don't want to go back to work or something like that and get off disability, then you don't do anything. When you turn your full retirement age, then Social Security automatically switches your disability to regular retirement benefits. Your check stays the same; most people don't even recognize the switch. It's more of a political-type bureaucratic accounting switch.
Since you're turning 65 in May, there's probably a 97% chance you have a Medicare Advantage plan. The reason you have a Medicare Advantage plan is that that's the only one you could get because you couldn't get a Medicare Supplement. But now you're turning 65; you're in a golden window where you can get a Medicare Supplement Plan if you want. Those are the ones without the prior authorizations, and there's no networks.
There is usually a monthly premium, but I would definitely check that out. This is possibly your only time to see if it's right for you, so you can reach out to my partners at Chapter, and they can go around and see if a Medicare Supplement is right for you. If it's not, then you just keep on keeping on.
All right, let's see what else here. "I had my physical CE, and the doctor said, 'I don't see a reason they would deny you.' Can she say that? Is she lying to me?"
No, they can give their opinion. A CE is basically this person, Sound Effects Jones, applied for Social Security disability, and for whatever reason, the disability examiner said, "Hey, we need more medical evidence." So, they scheduled a CE, a consultative exam, with a Social Security contracted doctor.
They went and saw that doctor, and for whatever disability, the doctor said that. So, I mean, that's not the final determination. The disability examiner has to look at everything.
Hello, Dr. Word. Thank you for giving us somewhere to find real information, not made-up lies about money that is not coming.
Yes, yeah, the one video I did on the Social Security Fairness Act and the money that people are getting on that. There are people that didn't watch the video, and they say, "These are lies; we're not getting this money." It's like, well, you really have to watch the video.
Yeah, there are 3% that are going to be getting a big check coming here pretty soon, but yeah, people thought it was clickbait. If they watched the video, they would realize it's not clickbait, but I try my best anyway.
Let's see, Speck of Dust: "You are awesome. Thank you for all you do. Have you or will you go to D.C. to speak to Congress to educate or reprimand them on Social Security?"
Yeah, I kind of did that yesterday on Marjorie Taylor Greene. Yeah, I know these politicians. They know—well, some of them don't really know—but they use political tricks.
Yeah, just to beat up on Social Security with the ultimate purpose of privatizing Social Security and giving Social Security trust funds. Anyway, yeah, I'd be more than happy if they want me to come testify in Congress. I would be more than happy. I don't think they want me to, though.
Can you just have a U.S. bank account for a direct deposit but live in, say, Canada?
Yeah, you can keep a U.S. bank account absolutely. You know, just transfer it however you want to do it. You know, there's TransferWise, and I think they changed their name to Wise, and there's other options. You can get your bank to do the wire transfer and stuff.
Turning 65 in February, my husband passed in 2023. Wow, sorry to hear that. I am now receiving his pension. I have a back injury. My $700 is over $2,000 planned to move to Mexico. What to do?
Yeah, if you're a U.S. citizen, you've got no issues living overseas at all, as long as you stay out of North Korea and Cuba. Because you're getting that pension, you know, the Social Security Fairness Act might apply to you, and maybe your benefits just might increase.
Harry: "Is there any way to calculate the increase to benefits? I'm 70, collecting Social Security, but working $80,000 income will place a $177,000 year."
Yeah, you can go onto the Social Security website, and there's a manual calculator where you can put in all your years of income, and it will automatically index it for the wage index. It'll automatically find your AIME, the average indexed monthly earnings. It'll automatically multiply it times the bend points and come up with your primary insurance amount.
Yep, easy, easy, easy. Well, not easy, but possible. If you are getting survivor benefits and you are under the age of 64, can you get Medicaid?
If you're getting any benefits and you're any age, you can apply. You can apply for Medicaid. You're asking about Medicaid. Medicaid is the welfare-based health insurance program administered by the states. So, yes, you can apply for Medicaid anytime.
Are you maybe talking about Medicare? If you're talking about Medicare, then if you're just receiving survivor benefits, if they are not disabled widow benefits or based on a disability, then no, you have to wait until you're 65 for Medicare.
But because you're receiving survivor benefits, your Medicare will start automatically about 100 days before you turn 65. Medicare will send you a packet, your card, and everything. But be careful because everybody in the country, every health insurance company in the country, and every agent in the country knows you're turning 65, and they're going to start inundating you with phone calls and junk mail and emails and stuff like that.
What I see happening is some of that junk mail looks like official mail, and people just get tired of it and throw it away. People are throwing away their actual official packet from Medicare with their Medicare card in there, so watch out for that.
A good way to do it is just call Chapter, and they can help you find a plan. If you don't call them, they don't call you. So, yeah, they do things right. People are not supposed to be calling you unless you give them permission. If you tell Medicare, you know, a sales agent, and T.O.A. to call you, then they can call you, or their company can call you.
But if you didn't tell that company to call or that person to call you, they're not supposed to call you, so you can report them.
Venice: "Disability for eight years, got 47 years in. Do I need to sign up?"
I'm turning 65. Venice, I'm not sure.
For eight years, got 47 years in. Do I need to sign up?
Well, 65 is the key year for Medicare, so then you need to figure out what you're going to do with all the other plans.
Steve: "My daughter is filing for disability at 23 years old but had spinal fusion surgery at 11 or 12 years old and was wondering if she can file as a disabled adult child even if we never filed for her before."
Yes, absolutely. But one of her parents has to be receiving Social Security benefits, either retirement benefits or disability benefits. If one of you is receiving those benefits, yes, absolutely, she can file for disabled adult child benefits because she's alleging that she became disabled and unable to work before the age of 22.
So yes, that is 100% the fact, and yes, even if she hasn't filed before, she's 23 or whatever, yes, file absolutely. But if neither of her parents are receiving benefits, then no, there are no disabled adult child benefits. One of those actually has to be receiving benefits.
But she can file for SSI, the Supplemental Security Income, and get SSI and get disability on that. Then once you or her other parent files, then they can switch it from SSI to disabled adult child benefits.
David: "When the higher-earning spouse dies at 70, does the lower-earning spouse receive the higher earnings for retirement amount if they are past their full retirement age or the amount that the spouse was receiving at death?"
Okay, so they will receive the benefit. If the surviving spouse is at their full retirement age, they will basically receive the benefit the deceased spouse was receiving when they passed. If you wait to collect benefits at 70, then the surviving spouse gets those delayed retirement credits, gets that extra 24%.
But there are a little exceptions; it's called the widow's limit. If the deceased spouse got their benefit very early, like at 60 or 63, then it might be a little bit of a different calculation.
All right, let's see. Joanne: "My full retirement age is 66 and 10 months. I turned 66 in June 2025. However, the 10 months will be in 2026. How does that affect Social Security earnings benefits earnings limit if I file now?"
So, yeah, then your full retirement age is 2026. This year, you're limited to the amount of money you can make, and that limit is $23,400. Anything over the $23,400 this year, Social Security will hold back $1 for every $2 you go over. Next year, when you hit your full retirement age, then basically the month before you reach your full retirement age, you can make—we don't know what the number is—probably about $63,000 or $64,000.
So, is it true that they adjusted the Social Security benefit if you have a pension starting January 2024? If so, is it based on the amount of the pension? What is the formula?
No, no. There was the windfall elimination provision and the government pension offset that has been around for 40 years, but they just overruled that, just threw that out. So, pensions don't affect your Social Security retirement benefits at all.
Yep, Lyn: "Thank you for your service."
You're welcome. Lorenzo: "What benefits will my wife, who is not a U.S. citizen of three years, be able to receive if I die?"
As long as she's legal status, has a green card, she can receive benefits and regular survivor benefits. You all have to be married at least nine months, and you're married for three years, so she would qualify for benefits unless you all get divorced. Then the marriage would have to last 10 years.
But no, she's legal status in the United States; she can get those benefits. People always say, "Oh, these illegals getting Social Security benefits." No, they're not getting retirement benefits or disability benefits.
But there's an exception on the survivor benefits depending on a particular country because we recognize Social Security systems in other countries, and other countries recognize our systems. So, survivor benefits are a little bit different. But in terms of retirement benefits and disability benefits, you have to have U.S. citizenship or legal status in the United States.
So, that one gets a little bit wonky. The other benefits get a little bit wonky.
Worked 47 years, got hurt at work, been on disability, turning 65. Do I need to call them?
Not sure. Call them.
Yeah, not sure what. Former husband was collecting disability when he died. We were married for 20 years. Is there a benefit for waiting beyond age 60 to file for survivor benefits?
Yeah, because technically he never received retirement benefits, and that's what you're looking for, survivor benefits, retirement benefits. So, the benefit won't be reduced because disability is not considered taking it early.
The longer you wait, every month you wait to collect those Social Security benefits, those survivor benefits will increase. So, basically, at 60 years old, you're going to get 71.5% of his full benefit amount. If you wait, you know, then you'll get 72%, and 73%, and 74%. If you wait all the way until your full retirement age, then you'll get 100% of his full benefit amount.
Carling: "We appreciate you, Dr. Ed. Thank you for your help since it's so hard to get anyone to answer."
Yes, you're welcome. Again, that is a conscious decision by politicians to make sure Social Security does a terrible job so you will hate it. Then when politicians come and say, "Hey, we've got a solution; we're going to give it to Wall Street," everybody's going to go, "Yeah, well, it can't be any worse than it already is."
Then, you know, politicians are like, "Excellent, our plan has worked."
Overseas seven and a half years, hey Bonnie. Overseas seven and a half years, we continue to pay Social Security FICA taxes and file IRS payments.
Yeah, death and taxes, right? We worked with our U.S. Embassy; they were helpful. We filed also on a hardship bracket because we were not in a city.
Yeah, U.S. citizens have to pay taxes. It doesn't matter where you live, including FICA taxes. Some countries have part of, you know, again with the IRS type thing, they have kind of a deal where if you have to pay taxes in the country you're in, they kind of subtract the taxes you already paid in the United States.
Some countries don't, where you basically have to pay taxes twice. But I'm not a tax person, so make sure you reach out to a tax person that does international taxes.
Hi, I need to file for Social Security disability as soon as possible, but my 2024 income isn't posted on any Social Security website.
Yeah, it's not posted until you actually file. So, if I apply now, will my amount be lower than if I waited until it's filed?
If you're going to file for disability benefits, don't wait for something like that because you're going to be waiting six to nine months, if you're lucky, for a decision on your disability. So, don't sit around and wait. File, and then because it's going to take six or nine months for you even to get a decision, by that time, your 2024 earnings are going to be in there.
If it's an issue of insured status, that you're not insured because you didn't pay into Social Security enough and the 2024 is going to make a difference, then at that time, you can just provide a W-2 for last year, and they can add it manually to make you insured.
So, question: where are the best places to consider moving to?
Yeah, it really depends on your situation. Again, Portugal is a popular one, Costa Rica, Mexico, the Philippines. I'm partial to Japan, but I speak Japanese, so if you don't speak Japanese, Japan is probably not the place.
General: please describe the process for stopping and repaying Social Security benefits. How long must he wait to restart, and how to do each step? Also, what is voluntary suspend called prior to full retirement age? How do you do it?
Okay, a lot of questions there. Wow, Pat, you got me working.
To stop your benefits, I think what you're talking about is repaying. You're talking about a withdrawal. So, within 12 months, you have 12 months to withdraw your application, saying, "Oh, I made a mistake; I should have never filed. I want to withdraw my application like it never happened."
Because it never happened, you have to pay all the money back. So, it's a two-step process: you say, "I want to withdraw," and then nothing happens until you actually pay that money back, and the check clears. Then it's like it never happened.
The other thing you're talking about is the voluntary suspend. It's voluntary delayed retirement credits. So, basically, before you hit your full retirement age, you can call Social Security and say, "Hey, suspend my benefits. I want to get the extra 8% per year, and I'll contact you again at 68, 69, or 70 and restart my benefits and get that extra delayed retirement credits."
But I have to warn you on that one: not many people do that. So, the Social Security employees, when you call them up and say, "Hey, I want to do a voluntary delayed retirement credit," they might think you're crazy. You just have to get through the first level of generalists and talk to a Title II expert, a claims specialist, and they'll know what you're talking about.
So, Liz: "Hello, I live in Spain and will be claiming Social Security in a few years when I turn 67. I don't want Medicare Part B. I understand I will need to take Part A. Can I wait until I'm 67 to get Part A?"
You can if you wait until you get your benefits at 67. But if you file for benefits at 65, then you have to get Part A. So, yeah, once you file for benefits, you won't be penalized for Part A because you can't charge a penalty for zero premium.
But yeah, Part B, you can refuse Part B at that time.
Stuart: "Hello from Japan."
Hey, Kich.
Let's see, it will convert. Okay, somebody's answering somebody's question. Awesome.
Ed, so how many people that were living overseas may have actually died, yet their Social Security check continues? Fraud, basically.
Yeah, I'm sure that definitely happens, and that's why they send out that letter once a year, and they stop those benefits.
Yeah, there was a senator from Kennedy from Louisiana who did a thing, and I know he was trying to say that 6.2 million deceased people are receiving Social Security benefits, and they're cashing their checks. It's like, nobody cashes their checks; everybody's on direct deposit.
Ninety-eight percent of people are on direct deposit, so the whole thing—and they're actually cashing checks now; it's direct deposit. You don't. That happens because people, you know, their check is due tomorrow, and they pass away today.
Social Security and the Department of Treasury aren't notified that quickly that someone has passed away. What happens is the money stays in the bank account, and then the Department of Treasury gets the notification of the passing and then goes in there and sucks it out.
So, yeah, that whole—it's another attempt to attack Social Security and degrade it and destroy it in order to come in and be a savior by giving it over to Wall Street. So, that's an old story, and we're too smart on this channel to fall for that.
Out of three baby mamas, only two applied for child dependent benefits from SSDI. They are waiting for almost 60 days when we're told all three have to file, then they will give the money for the kids. True?
It's always better to get everybody taken care of and make sure all the calculations are done to get all the benefits. Yes, that is true. If the other parents are not cooperating and not filing, then that shouldn't be held against the other kids or something like that.
So, they can try their best to get all three kids' benefits started because if the family maxes, then the benefits have to be divided by three. They want to make sure it's divided correctly. But if that other parent is just not cooperating, then you can just push it and say, "Well, hey, we want our money."
If my 25-year-old son has been on SSI since birth, qualifies for disabled adult child from Social Security, is that in lieu of or in addition to, and does this potentially affect Medicaid?
It depends on how much that benefit is. For SSI, the max is $967. If the child gets disabled adult child benefits and it's only $500, then they'll get the $500 plus an extra $467 from SSI.
But if it's more than $967, then SSI will stop. Depending on your state, your Medicaid might continue. It really depends on your particular state, but if the child receives $2,000 or $3,000 or whatever, then the Medicaid just might stop, depending on your particular state and whether they count that or whether it's over the Medicaid limit.
But yes, it could very well affect Medicaid.
Are you required to be employed to receive SSI or SSDI?
Either one of those, no. But the president in his previous administration tried to do like a kind of a work-type thing for those types of welfare benefits for SSI and Medicaid. As of right now, no, but that might change in the future.
MC became a member. Thank you very much. Yes, thank you for supporting.
Hello in Hawaii. Hey, Kama. Discounts here. I was stationed at Kono Bay and Camp Smith.
So, I guess, is paying for Part B still mandatory if you're overseas?
I used to, as we used to say in the Marine Corps, nothing is mandatory, but the repercussions are a reality. So, you don't have to sign up for Part B, but if you don't and you do later, then you're going to be penalized, and you'll have to wait until the general enrollment period, January, February, March.
So, it really depends. If you're never coming back to the United States, then I guess for you it's not mandatory because you'll never need it.
I was talking to someone that was in Spain, and they grew up in Spain and lived in the United States for like 40 years. Then they decided to go back to the family home and retire. Him and his wife had Part B for like two years because they always thought it was mandatory, so they lost thousands and thousands of dollars because they were never coming back.
So, they went and canceled Part B.
I've been disabled most, if not all, of my life. My late wife was my representative payee. My late wife and daughter pulled off of my disability benefits. I've had to work to support us, but then I stress like, "Wow."
Yeah, if your late wife was your representative payee and you want to go back to being your own representative payee, you can do that. Usually, you just get a note from your doctor that covers your disability and says, "Yeah, he can take care of his own benefits."
Social Security can't force you to get a representative payee; they can try, but when push comes to shove, they can't.
Great news! I applied for Medicare on the Social Security site, and it only took three days for approval, and I was able to get my number. I was surprised how quick it was.
Awesome, good deal! Yeah, the Social Security website, they've updated it and made it a lot more difficult to get in, which is good. It protects personal identity and stuff like that, so your private stuff.
But awesome, good deal! So, I guess you're probably 65, and once you apply for Medicare at 65 and you decline the money, when you decide to start your money benefits later, it's super, super easy. It's even easier because you've already done the difficult part in proving your name, your date of birth, and your legal status in the United States, and all that kind of good stuff.
So later on, when you want to start your money part of it, it's easier because you've already done half of the battle.
Is it true DDS is going to not send cases to doctors and make SSI decisions themselves?
Yeah, that's that emergency message that recently went out. DDS is the Disability Determination Services, the state agency that makes the actual medical determinations on Social Security disability.
Yeah, there's what, 1.2 million cases backlogged right now. In order to kind of expedite those and get those cleared, they changed it where a regular disability examiner has a lot more latitude to make decisions themselves.
Yeah, I wish I—you know, yeah, we'll see how that works out. It's definitely going to expedite things, but whether people are going to get correct decisions, that's a whole— that's what we'll find out.
Can you buy another country's insurance if you go abroad?
Yeah, sure. Well, it really depends on that particular country, but I was paying for my premium, so now I have changed to a zero premium plan. Will it automatically update Social Security to not pay for the old premium? Do I need to do anything with Social Security?
If you're talking about a Medicare Advantage type plan that you had a Medicare Advantage with a monthly premium and you switched to another Medicare Advantage, yeah, it's automatic.
Basically, when you sign up for the new plan, when you sign up for any Medicare Advantage plan or D plan, it goes to Medicare. The health insurance agent or whoever helped you out goes to Medicare, and they run it through the system. It sees that, "Oh, you had another plan," so we'll cancel this plan and put you on this other one.
So, yep, that's automatic. If you're doing the Medicare Supplement, those are kind of outside, but it sounds like you have a Medicare Advantage, so that's good.
What is full retirement age for widows?
It's a little bit different than full retirement age. It's about three or four months earlier than regular retirement age. Why is that? Because for retirement, you can file—the earliest you can start your benefits is 62, but for survivors, you can start at 60.
That's why the full retirement age is a little bit different, but the full retirement age for survivor benefits is a few months different. But not when it comes to the annual earnings limit; that is the same as everybody else's for retirement age.
A lot of people missed that one.
Robin: "We are U.S. citizens in Spain. My husband turned 62 this year, and children ages 12 and 14. Can we file for all three at the same time? Can you discuss the filing process?"
Yeah, you'll have to go through the Federal Benefits Unit. There is one in London, I think, that handles Spain. There's an actual Social Security employee in London.
But you'll probably just go through maybe Madrid or wherever the case may be. You'll just contact them, set up an appointment at the Federal Benefits Unit. They'll take the application for all three or four of you and then send it to the Office of International Operations.
So, it'll take a while. If you happen to be visiting the United States in the next month or two, I would go to your local office and do it there to expedite the whole thing. But if you don't mind waiting, then yep, give the thumbs up.
Yes, please, everybody give a thumbs up. That way, this information goes out to more people.
When trying to check my SSDI earnings, what do I compare it to? My W-2? None of my numbers match.
Yeah, so your earnings record, you compare it to your actual Social Security wages. Yeah, there's Social Security wages, and then there's Medicare wages—some wages that you pay Medicare tax on and some you don't, and vice versa.
So, yeah, it should SE on your W-2, Social Security wages, and they should match. If they don't, then yeah, something's going on.
I heard one of your videos about the Social Security Fairness Act, and you briefly mentioned people with foreign pensions. Just wanted to know if you could talk a little bit more about those cases.
Yeah, the Social Security Fairness Act, as typical Congress, they passed it, and it's basically two sentences. So now the Social Security lawyers are trying to figure it out and trying to interpret it.
Because the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron Defense, it's going to take a lot longer. But anyway, super long story short, they did not differentiate between a pension from a Texas retirement teacher union or whatever organization or a pension from Germany or England or Japan or whatever the case may be.
So, yeah, the Social Security Fairness Act, as far as we know, applies to you. But I would definitely watch—I did a video about a week ago. The thumbnail says "Critical Update January 31st," so I would watch that.
A lot of people that watched it were confused, and the people that were confused were not the ones it applied to. So, what is this? Well, if you really don't know what the Social Security Fairness Act is and you weren't one of those people in a non-covered pension, the video is not really for you.
But for you, you should watch it. It'll give you some tips to make sure you're not going to lose benefits, protective filing-type stuff.
Carmen: "I am receiving SSI and retirement through Social Security and Medicaid and will be turning 65 in March. Well, Medicare is best for me, and I live in California."
Yeah, if you're receiving Medicaid, you pretty much have to sign up for Medicare. But I would reach out to Medicaid and say, "Hey, I'm going to be signed up for Medicare pretty soon."
You know, I can't afford $185, so can you hook me up and pay for my $185 Medicare Part B? Hopefully, they will do that, and then you'll have Medicaid and Medicare.
Then you'll have what's called the Medicare Savings Programs, where the state in California—it's not called Medicaid; it's called Medi-Cal. Anyway, Medi-Cal will pay for your Part B premium.
Because you're on Medicare, I would probably reach out to Chapter, and you might be eligible for a Medicare Advantage dual-eligible plan. That's one of those that you see advertised with all the grocery cards.
The advertising that some of these people do is really scammy, but those cards do exist. They might be $100, $200, $300 for transportation and all kinds of different stuff. But it might be available in your area, and it might not.
You can reach out to Chapter, and they can see if one's available in your area and walk you through the rest of the process so you can have Medicaid, Medicare, the extra help with the prescription drugs, a Medicare Advantage dual-eligible plan, which includes the prescription drug plan, and you might get some help with your electricity and groceries and all that other kind of good stuff.
All right, let's see. Jeff: "My spouse is on SSDI and under 65. The state where he lives does not allow supplement plans to her. Yes, if we moved to a state like New York or California, would she then be allowed to enroll in a supplement plan with the new state?"
Yes, possibly. New York, that's one of the reasons New York is so expensive in terms of the Medicare supplement because a lot of people do that.
So, yeah, the Medicare supplement plans are regulated by the states, so that's why each state is a little bit different. Medicare Advantage plans are regulated by the federal government, basically CMS, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Dr. O loves him some Medicare Advantage plans. His plan is Medicare Advantage for all.
Anyway, yeah, there are kind of little limitations on stuff like that. I know New York, some—because they're so expensive, a lot of people are doing that. When they really get sick, they move to New York.
As people get diagnosed with cancer, they move to New York so they can get a supplement, so they can get better health coverage. Some companies are kind of leaving New York because of that.
So, yeah, I would reach out to a Medicare insurance broker and have them help you, someone that's licensed in New York and/or California. Chapter can help you out with all that.
What is the advantage of getting Part B if you were covered by a federal health insurance program for retirees?
Sometimes it really depends on the plan. Your federal employee health benefit plan might want you to do Part B to save themselves a little bit of money. So, I'd reach out to them and say, "Hey, do I have to sign up for Part B? Is there any benefit for me to sign up for Part B? Are you all going to pay part of my $185?"
Some people want the extra gym membership and some extra dental or vision or whatever the case may be, so they get a Medicare Advantage. I wouldn't recommend a Medicare Supplement Plan because, well, some people get it, but I wouldn't if you have federal employee health benefits.
Proof of life if you live overseas takes forever. If you live in the Philippines, every October is proof of life month. I send the form in July, and I have problems.
Yeah, that's what I hear a lot of people from the Philippines say. That proof of life form takes forever because of mail.
Thanks for that. Keep me updated if you hear about the attestation where you can do it over the phone. I'd be interested to see how that is working out.
If my wife's Social Security is less than half of mine, did you say that she could get more by getting spousal benefits against mine?
Yes, if her benefits are less than half of your— we're talking full benefit amount here, not her actual check. Don't compare it with your actual check because that's called the MBA, your monthly benefit amount.
You need to compare her full benefit amount as if she had waited to her full retirement age. That's called the PIA, so her PIA and your PIA—those are the numbers Social Security looks at. You can go online and find out what each of your PIAs is, the primary insurance amount, or you can call up Social Security, and she can call up and say, "Hey, I'm Timothy's wife. Can I get any money off this dude?"
If she can, then yeah, I guess she owes you a dinner.
Robert: "It showed where I had back pay in my account from SSDI. Looks like the lawyers have all been paid. How long does it usually take to do the coming check?"
Okay, yeah, that's usually the last step. If the lawyers have been paid for your Social Security disability and you didn't receive any SSI in the interim while you're waiting for your disability, then yeah, that's the last step, and you should be getting your check here pretty soon.
Can you buy insurance in another country?
Yep. I live in Japan and am covered by national health insurance here. Will I be penalized if I do not sign up for Medicare Part B at 65 if I return to live in the U.S. many years from now?
No, that's not considered credible coverage. Unless you're actually—there are some exceptions if you're working for a company, you know, an American company overseas or something like that. But normally, that is not considered credible coverage, and yeah, so you'll get the penalty, and you won't be able to sign up until that general enrollment period.
So, there are very, very small exceptions.
If you move overseas and earn income there, how is that handled for reporting taxes?
I don't do taxes, but for reporting, if you're under your full retirement age, you are limited to the amount of money you can make, and it doesn't matter where you are. That limit is $23,400. If you make anything over that, then yeah, Social Security is going to hold back $1 for every $2 you go over.
When overseas, use a Charles Schwab account.
Okay, let's see. Deborah: "You and Chapter have helped me so much, and I have forwarded your videos to several people if they want the real facts."
Thank you!
Oh, awesome, great to hear. Chapter, yeah, my son and I looked for a long time for a place to help you all out with the Medicare supplements and Advantage and prescription drug plans, and they're doing a phenomenal job.
So, keep me updated if they're not, and I will take it up with them, but yeah, they're doing great.
When you stated the FICA cap is around $175,000, do the people who make over that still pay into up to that cap, and then after that, they don't have to pay?
That is correct. So, yeah, if you make over $176,100 for this year, you pay FICA, the 6.2%, on anything under that. But once you go over that, they stop paying.
So, if you make $50,000, you pay 6.2% on all $50,000. If you make $5 million, I calculated out one time, it's 0.43% of your income that goes into there, so it's a pretty bad deal.
When working while on SSDI, does a bonus from a job count to your SGA?
Normally, yes. If it's during that time period, remember you have the trial work period and all the rest of it. But yeah, if it's work and that's income from actual working, then yes.
I received spousal benefits, but it was suspended because it says that I received a higher pension than the benefit, but it was not the right amount. I get less money on my pension.
It doesn't matter anymore because of the Social Security Fairness Act, and now you can just have to wait for them to figure out how to get the money out to people and redo the calculations.
So, do you think the president is going to do anything for Social Security all across the board, including SSI?
According to his previous administration, yeah, SSI was a focus. Disability, doing more continuing disability reviews for people on disability, Medicaid. He said recently, within the last few months, that he's not going to touch Social Security or Medicare.
But Social Security has to be touched because if it's not, then there are going to be cuts coming in. So, I appreciate not touching it, but that's just watching the house burn down, unfortunately.
Hello, I'm 63 on SSDI and Social Security from my husband’s survivor benefits. I guess, of course, his benefits are more. Am I supposed to change anything?
No, if you're on SSDI and you're also receiving survivor benefits, yeah, you don't have to do anything. It sounds like you're good. When you turn your full retirement age, the disability part will stop, and then you will be receiving retirement benefits and survivor benefits.
All right, what's the max limit of income for IRMA when married filing jointly?
Max limit for the IRMA? Oh, for the—what, $212,000 based on your earnings from two years ago? Anything over $212,000—make sure I got my numbers right for 2025—yes, $212,000. If you're under that, then you don't pay IRMA.
My late husband maxed his benefits. Do his benefits receive the raises that have been put in place?
Yeah, any type of COLA, yes, COLA increases for everybody.
All right, we're getting close to the end here. I just got approved for disability. I have waited since October 2023, but I was told I wouldn't get any back pay at all. Why is what I want to ask?
Oh, yeah, it really depends on—well, October 2023, yeah, that's a while. It depends on your EOD, your established onset date. So, if they said you just became disabled, you know, five months ago, there's always a five-month waiting period.
So, it really depends on when they determine your established onset date. But if they determined your established onset date was October 2023, then yeah, you should have some back pay coming in unless you, you know, your back pay goes to your lawyer or you already got it based on an SSI or something.
My mom passed in 1994, and my 98-year-old dad did not get her adjustment. Can it be done now, and how far back will they go?
Yeah, the adjustment—if your mother earned more than him and there's a higher benefit, yeah, I would contact Social Security immediately. At the very least, they should be able to give you six months back pay.
Then, you know, if you contacted them a year ago, two years ago, three years ago, and they dropped the ball or something, then I would demand more back pay.
Let's see. All right, let's go one more question. Is someone—I don't recognize here. If a foreigner has been on the O-1 visa for over 38 years, will they be going soon and eligible now? How do we apply here or when overseas?
Okay, yes, already talked about applying overseas at the Federal Benefits Unit.
Turning 66 in June, my 36-month extended period of eligibility for Social Security Disability will I be reinstated due to work? Medical records up to date, also working under $1,000 a month?
Okay, so yeah, once you turn your full retirement age, then your disability is going to switch to regular retirement. So, it doesn't matter how much you make anymore.
So, you already did your trial work period, the nine months, and now you're in your 36 months of extended period of eligibility. As long as you stay under substantial gainful activity, which $1,000 is, yeah, you'll get your check if you're still disabled.
All right, let's see. What happens to my Medicare if I get out of the U.S. and surrender my green card? I'm receiving spouse benefits.
Medicare, they don't really get notified if your Social Security benefits stop. Then Medicare, you know, unless you pay Medicare directly for the $185, then if you don't pay them, they will stop it.
All right, this will be the last one. I should be able to claim my own on my ex. I get extra help due to low income. Can I find out from Social Security how much extra I'd receive and then not claim if it's too little to offset the loss of extra help?
From your ex, usually not. If your ex is, you know, 62 or older, then this is called a deemed file. If you're receiving Social Security, then you're supposed to file for any other benefit you're eligible for.
If that law was changed in 2016, it really depends on how old you are. But if you don't fall under the 2016 law, then you have to file for any other type of benefits, particularly if you're getting extra help.
So, all right, that is it. We are over an hour, and LC, thank you for the support. You are too awesome. Thank you very much.
Got my coffee IV for the day, and all right, I'll be back again tomorrow, and we'll talk about something else and answer a bunch of questions. Y'all have an awesome night!