Don't Believe Everything You See about Social Security. Please. [View all]

[MineralMan]

There's a lot of wild speculation about ssa.gov and what is going to happen down the road. The reality of it, though, is that we don't know what we don't know.

Various pundits are exclaiming about the "disaster to come." They know no more than you or I do. They are speculating, but many people see any story as the gospel truth. In many cases, though, it is just a worst-case speculation.

I don't know of anyone who didn't get their regular benefit in February. And I know a lot of SS recipients. I also know people who have just filed for their social security benefits recently. They have already heard that they will start getting benefits shortly, just as it has been for years.

Now, I'm not saying everything is rosy. That would be as bad as saying the whole system is falling apart. If you got your benefit in February, you will almost certainly get it this month as well. If your waiting for information or for a recent enrollment, you should hear about that soon.

If you have not logged in at ssa.gov, you should go and do that. If you don't have an account, sign up, using login.gov, the official login security system. People seem to be having trouble with the third party systems, so stick with login.gov. Then, visit your login page once a month. If there are announcements or message about social security, you'll find them there. If there aren't any, don't pay any attention to emails that are pretending to be from the SSA. That isn't how it works.

If you have your benefits deposited directly into your bank account, check that account at the date you normally get your benefits. Check it every month. Make sure your online access to your bank is secure. Change your password and login name and make sure you have a record of those things you can access in case you forget or your devices no longer work.

Then, when you see someone posting alarm after alarm about SSA, look more closely. What is the source of what is being posted? How does that source know something that isn't all over the news? Ask yourself sensible questions like that. Log in to your SSA.gov account and see if there are new messages there. If not, odds are that news alarm is just speculation, as usual.

Some people just naturally want to get as many people stirred up and worried as they can. That makes them feel more important. Don't be taken in by alarmists trying to scare you. You can go find out what's going on for yourself and check other sources.

Frankly, I think it is very unlikely that SSA benefits are going to be the target of anyone. They're too important to too many people. They'll probably be the very last thing that gets messed around with. Other stuff that doesn't affect so many may be targeted. I think SSA benefits are unlikely to be messed with.