For the past few days, the United States Social Security Administration has been trying to fix a very serious problem related to its benefits. Thousands of United States citizens mistakenly got different amounts in the benefits they received during the year. So now the Administration is trying to recover all the money that has already been sent to and collected by the beneficiaries.
This is a huge problem for many of the beneficiaries, as some of them have no other source of income than the Social Security benefit itself. So the problem can become much bigger for the Administration who has not only sent checks in error but must now get the beneficiaries to return that money.
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While it is true that the beneficiaries have to pay back every penny of these Social Security checks because they do not belong to them, it is also true that after a while it can become unfair. Most of these incorrect checks have gotten into the wrong hands because of a mistake by the Administration itself. Therefore, it is a mistake that the Administration must accept, admit and rectify by other means.
At least that is what these thousands of United States citizens who are now faced with the problem of having to pay back the money they have already spent think. For many of them this is not possible, at least in the short term, since they have no other source of income to help them recover the money. Undoubtedly, we are talking about a very serious problem that can have serious consequences for the future of Social Security.
DO I HAVE TO PAY BACK MY SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFIT?
If the Social Security Administration calls you to return the money, yes. Otherwise, no, you will not have to pay anything back. The Social Security Administration itself has admitted that many errors with benefit calculations have taken place, which has ended up being this very serious problem.
So if you don’t get the call from the Administration you don’t have to worry about anything. However, if you do get the call to return the money you will have to do it within the time limit they give you. So try to be efficient in that case to avoid problems with penalties and the like.
Even so, the Social Security Administration itself has admitted that it will make it easier for beneficiaries to repay the money improperly collected. Fortunately, this situation is not at all common and in most cases beneficiaries get the check they are supposed to get.
WHEN DO I HAVE TO PAY BACK MY RETIREMENT BENEFIT IF I CASHED IT IN ERROR?
In the event that you have cashed a benefit in error or more money on one of the checks, the Social Security Administration will determine the deadline for repaying the money. Each case is completely individual, so you should expect to first get the call and then the notice to return the check you cashed in error.
Still, another thing to keep in mind is that many scammers may try to take advantage of the situation. For that reason, never pay attention to calls asking you to pay by unconventional means such as gift cards, for example.
If you have any doubts about a call from Social Security, the best thing to do is to go to a local office and ask directly if you really have to pay back the money. Today, fraudsters can come up with a huge number of different scams and we must be prepared to fight them in case they try to steal our money.