Social Security: Avoid oops factor with retirement

By Jim Glenn

When something goes wrong that could have easily been avoided, it is the old “oops factor” at work.

When you are retired, there are things you need to remember to do to avoid having the oops factor cause any problems with your Social Security benefit payments. Most of these responsibilities have to do with letting us know about changes in your life that also might affect your benefits.

One example is letting us know about any changes in your banking accounts.

Your Social Security benefit payment is probably deposited directly into a bank account for you. That is the smart and safe thing to do. But if you switch banks, or change accounts within the same bank, you need to let Social Security know about it.

Another common oops event is forgetting to report a change of address. This is true even if you change addresses without changing bank accounts.

Yes, your monthly benefit payments would continue to be deposited into that account. But Social Security sometimes needs to send you information through the mail and would need to know your new address.

Here are other common oops events to put on your radar screen:

• If you retired “early” and are still under your full retirement age, you need to let Social Security know about any change in your work status or earnings. Those earnings may affect the amount of your monthly Social Security benefit payments … and if you are overpaid you would have to repay that additional amount later.

• If you get married or divorced you should contact Social Security. Sometimes all that needs to be done following a marriage or divorce is a change of name in your Social Security and Medicare records.

Finally, there are two important events you will not be able to report to us directly, but for which you should make arrangements ahead of time. One is if, due to physical or mental limitations, you become unable to handle your own benefits. At that point, we will need to appoint someone to manage your Social Security affairs. And when you pass away, we obviously must be notified. Your benefits will stop, usually effective with the month you die.

To report any change in your status to Social Security, and avoid one of life’s oops, just call our toll-free number: 1-800-772-1213.