How Much Of A Penalty For Early Retirement And How Much Of A Reward For Late Retirement?

     From Are Social Security’s Actuarial Adjustments Still Correct? by Alicia Munnell and Anqi Chen of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College:

• People can claim Social Security from 62 to 70, with adjustments to keep lifetime benefits the same, on average, regardless of claiming age.
• The question is whether the adjustments, set decades ago, are still correct, given the decline in interest rates and increase in life expectancy.
• For the average worker, the analysis shows that the reduction for claiming early is currently too large while the increase for claiming late is about right.
• Higher earners – who live longer and claim later – get a really good deal under the current system.

     This is asking questions that have not been asked in quite some time. The study suggests lowering the early retirement penalty which might increase the already high rate of early retirement as well as decrease the viability of the retirement trust fund if not accompanied by an increase in revenues. I doubt that's happening.

Social Security Scam Calls Skyrocket

     From Business Wire:

Social Security imposter calls are now the top phone scam in the U.S., making up nearly 10% of all consumer phone complaints registered in BeenVerified’s Spam Call Complaint Monitor. The report, which analyzed more than 200,000 phone calls from 2016 - 2019, noted that Social Security scam calls have skyrocketed in 2019, a 23-fold increase over the same period in 2018. ...

Ways And Means Subcommittee Chairs Object To Ending Telework

     From a press release:

Today, House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman John B. Larson (CT-01), House Appropriations Labor, Health, Human Services, and Education Subcommittee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), House Ways and Means Worker and Family Support Subcommittee Chairman Danny K. Davis (IL-07), and House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee Chairman John Lewis (GA-05) sent a letter to Andrew Saul, Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), to request transparency and more information after SSA abruptly ended a pilot telework program.

“SSA’s Operations division initiated the Telework Pilot in 2013 and has expanded the pilot significantly over the years. Today, roughly one-quarter of SSA Operations staff or 12,000 employees telework between one and two days per week…. While the SSA Operations Telework Pilot has existed for nearly six years, SSA apparently did not adequately evaluate the pilot and has not articulated its future plans for telework. Management’s failure to properly evaluate telework performance metrics while it was in a pilot phase should not be the rationale for suspending telework in its entirety,”

     Just a thought. You know these Subcommittees could hold oversight hearings. There are many other issues at Social Security that go well beyond telework.

Ten Years In Prison For Sending Bombs

     A Texas woman has been sentenced to ten years in prison for sending bombs to the President, the Governor of Texas and the Acting Commissioner of Social Security.

Hearings To Go Ahead On Friday After Thanksgiving

     I've seen a tweet from the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives (NOSSCR) saying that any hearings scheduled for the Friday after Thanksgiving will go forward despite the announcement that Social Security offices will be closed to the public that day. 

     I've been practicing Social Security law for 40 years and I don't think I've ever had a hearing scheduled for the day after Thanksgiving. (I did have one scheduled for 8:30 a.m. an December 26, however, many years ago.)

Is Bed Bug Problem At Tulsa Hearing Office Over?

     From Government Executive:

Nearly 50 employees at the Social Security Administration as well as members of the public have been exposed to bedbugs and poor air quality for almost a year and a half at a hearing office in Tulsa, Okla., officials with a union representing administrative law judges said this week.

Reports from the Health and Human Services Department and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration both confirmed that despite the fact that the Social Security hearing office, which is located in a converted mall at 14002 E. 21st St. in Tulsa, is kept “clean and in good repair,” the office continues to suffer from a nagging bedbug infestation, as well as high levels of carbon dioxide related to the building’s HVAC system.

Last month, OSHA determined the problems constituted “unsafe and unhealthful working conditions,” and gave the agency until Nov. 19 to abate the violations. In a statement, Social Security Administration spokeswoman Nicole Tiggemann said the air quality issues were tied to “humidity/air flow issues during the summer” and have been addressed. Tiggemann said the facility has been treated for bedbugs again following a positive “canine alert” test last month. ...

“Staff has taken them home,” [the union president] said. “It’s horrible, and very upsetting that they’ve exposed their families to that. It’s very unfortunate, and costly to eliminate them . . . This is a very serious matter that has impacted staff, judges and exposed American citizens, and it needs resolution.”

Social Security Offices Closed To Public Next Friday

     I received a broadcast e-mail this morning saying that Social Security offices will be closed on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I assume that Social Security employees have not been given the day off however. That happened in the past when Michael Astrue was Commissioner.

The Tale Of Andrew McGuffin

     Indy Week has an article giving a lot of fascinating background on the case of Andrew McGuffin, a Social Security attorney-advisor who was fired less than a year after being hired. I had posted earlier about the decision of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in McGuffin's case.
     It's clear from the records that McGuffin was fired so quickly because he is a veteran. After only a year, it's much harder to fire a vet. The same protections only kick in after two years for non-veterans. The problem for Social Security was that McGuffin demonstrated low productivity but there were no productivity standards for the first year of employment for attorney-advisors. Those kicked in only after the first year after which it would have been harder to fire McGuffin because he is a vet. They fired him anyway. McGuffin sued and eventually won.
     By the way, while it has nothing to do with this case, I can't help thinking of Alfred Hitchcock when I hear the name McGuffin.