Hard to know

I had intended to wait until I was 70 to start collection Social Security under my own number as I was eligible to collect survivor benefits from my first husband. I had NO idea this was the case until a SSA employee told me in a consultation in 2021 when I initially filed. With all the uncertainty, I decided to go ahead and convert 6 months early. I went online and was not able to figure out how to make this change.

Yesterday I left a message at the extension of the Nashville SSA employee that had been so helpful. The extension no longer belonged to Tonya, but I thought what the HECK. I also called the Nashville SSA office and waited on line for about 25 minutes before I got dropped. This was midafternoon.

This morning I found on a AARP website that this sort of conversion needs to be done in person so I called the Nashville office in hopes there was an option to just make an appointment. After waiting about 30 minutes, it sounded like I was being connected and then line went blank with no Muzak or messages, but I was still connected. I wasn’t sure what that meant but I waited 5 minutes just to make sure it was not the “next in line” place.

I decided since I was in Nashville anyway, I might as well drop by the office to see if I can walk in or at least get an appointment. The very nice security person just inside the door confirmed I did need to make an appointment to make that change but there was no way to make an appointment in person. He suggested I call the National SSA number rather than the Nashville number. I dialed from the parking lot.

There was an option for “make appointment” and then I was told it was a 120 minute wait to make an appointment. I have been waiting 1 hour and 9 minutes thus far. I will be ignoring all calls – anything that might accidentally disconnect me from this call.

To be fair, it may have been this bad BEFORE the recent mass firings of probationary employees but I doubt it.

One of the recorded messages is to please stay on the line to provide feedback which I will and hopefully the survey separates the system experience from the SSA employee experience because I expect the experiences will be quite different. I do hope people are not being too hard on the Federal employees right now. They are not at fault here.

If I am successful in getting an appointment, it may all be for naught if the government shuts down. Such a SHIT show.