This Doesn’t Look Quite Right To Me

      From the National Law Review:

MySSAgent's free Google Chrome extension is the first browser extension for one-click Social Security earnings-statement retrieval, as of October 1, 2026, based on public product documentation. It has been available since July 2026.

The client signs in to their own my Social Security account at ssa.gov. The extension adds a "Send to MySSAgent" button to the statement page. One click sends the official earnings record into MySSAgent, and a full claiming analysis is ready in minutes. There's no file to download, nothing to upload, and nothing to re-type. MySSAgent never asks for a Social Security number. …

From the client's official record, the analysis covers every claiming month from age 62 to 70, including spousal and survivor benefits. With the household's income entered, it also shows the Medicare IRMAA bracket at each claiming age. Every benefit figure comes from a deterministic engine built on the Social Security Administration's published formulas. …

      This looks like it could be something from the Social Security Administration but it’s not. I have a couple of questions: Does this look too much like an official government site? Did this setup require cooperation from Social Security? It looks like it might be a security issue.

     If you do much Googling on Social Security subjects you find many, many articles and websites dealing with that eternal question, “What is the right age to file a claim for Social Security retirement benefits?” It seems to be a subject that fascinates those with an MBA or related training. In the real world, however, claimants mostly make the decision based upon their need for the money. They don’t have the luxury of delaying claiming benefits. Besides, they can have the money now while they’re still able to use it. I’m sure there’s a subset of claimants who worry about this question but it’s small. Just look at the low percentage of claimants who wait until age 70.

Advances For My SSA Accounts But Problems Persist

      From NextGov/FCW:

… The Social Security Administration hit its target of reaching 105 million 'my Social Security' accounts — an online portal Americans use to access services — by the end of the month, an agency spokesperson told Nextgov/FCW on Friday. The agency now aims to reach 110 million by the end of next September, per a strategic plan released in August. 

But that 110 million goal is far less lofty than the target SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano told Congress about last year: 200 million online accounts by the end of 2026.

The SSA spokesperson said the agency continues to strive for 200 million my Social Security account holders, but they did not offer a target date. …

Adults generally interact with SSA in very specific moments of their lives, which explains much of the tepid adoption in the younger age bracket, Arabella Crawford, a civic tech consultant and Tech Viaduct contributor, told Nextgov/FCW. Those moments include turning 65, being diagnosed with a disability or changing their legal name, she explained. …

Many [potential claimants] are also not technologically savvy, lack internet access or have disabilities that make it difficult to use technology …

Clients ran into issues using my Social Security accounts’ digital identity verification services, she explained. For example, some clients found it difficult to use video proofing on ID.me — a digital identity validation service used across several agencies — while others had to wait for the government’s in-house option, Login.gov, to send codes through the mail, she said. …

Over 100 Million Online Accounts

      From a press release:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is announcing that over 100 million Americans have created personal my Social Security accounts. This marks a major milestone in the agency’s digital-first transformation to increase accessibility, expand service, and improve the overall customer experience for the public. …

31% Complete?

     My firm has recently started receiving calls from clients informing us that their My SSA account is showing that work on their case pending at the initial or reconsideration level is 31% or 90% or some other percentage complete. This is nuts. The work at DDS doesn't translate into percentages like this. Where are they coming up with these numbers? Is there any point other than to try to get the claimants to hold off a little longer before they call to ask what's going on with their cases? If so, I don't think this is going to help for long. What are they going to do about claimants whose cases have supposedly been pending at "31% complete" for six months?