keemapoot

I suppose it's more of an issue of penalty and enforcement. That provision was meant to prevent fraud for SSI recipients, who are not supposed to live abroad and collect. For retirees on retirement social security income, the issue is not as serious, though it seems any potential enforcement or penalty is not known except to Social Security insiders. I suspect it's not a serious penalty as a retiree has a right to collect his social security, and physical location is relatively meaningless, other than this proof of life issue. I have never read or heard of anyone getting caught out on this.

Yes, the view of many experts in the industry is that Trump (and Doge) are trying to break Social Security rendering it lame, and then turn that story into how they can fix it by privatizing it, freeing up the $3 trillion in asset reserves to let Wall Street manage the money at a higher potential return (and fees generated and pocketed) but higher risk obviously. This has been floated in the past by Ted Cruz and other republicans. Trump's method is more sneaky but likely has the same goal. The current SSA director (Doge guy) is also playing games with how he claims phone response times have improved. They say the average call is just 20 minutes or something, but they are adding in the countless people who hang up in frustration after a few minutes, so this appears to be the long game. The upshot for expats is that it's getting much more difficult and bothersome. The best way to solve this issue for expats in my opinion, is to have your SSA money deposited into a US account and change address to US to avoid the annual proof of life letter. I know this is a pain for many who have cut ties, but if you still have a US bank account that is workable, and you use Wise to make automatic monthly transfers it does work. Though, Wise also has some issues. The alternative is to wait to see what happens.

Some big news today on this topic. A new internal policy change has just come out where the annual form 7162 will not longer be required to be mailed in. Evidently, you can now phone in this information either to any US SSA office or to probably Manila for Thailand expats.

Many longevity experts (both MDs and others) are taking metformin (usually 500mg daily, aka and sold under brand name Glucophage in Thailand). As Cheryl mentions that research has not conclusively proven benefits but the evidence is convincing enough for many people to take this not only for controlling blood sugar but also for its purported longevity benefits. I do take it daily, but A1C readings range from very good to pre-diabetes over the years, and my cardiologist (one of the top ones in Thailand) does also take it and is not pre-diabetes. The drug has been around a long time and tons of research has been done so that potential side effects are well known.

Yeah, they're still attractive from the no state income tax perspective, but unusable for nomads or expats with a post mail box service because they require 30 days residency per year in Nevada's case and I think also in Florida. So for foreign expats, having to deal with this is unattractive.

Yeah, possibly, though likely the Trump administration will try to bully Congress this term to get this done as he has them mostly afraid already. The SS trust fund has almost $3 trillion that Trump is salivating to get. He and Musk think that by busting social security so that it won't work at all, that the populace will support the privatization effort for efficiency reasons, in the process robbing this trust fund. That trust fund is due to be depleted by 2035 anyway which will result in a permanent 20% or so haircut to everyone's benefits. The social security system can support itself and pay all beneficiaries forever mostly at this reduced 80% rate. I think Musk and Trump will try to sell the republicans in Congress on the plan that they can privatize, get better returns with higher risk investments, rob and divert the trust fund, and leave everyone holding the bag later.

Yeah, South Dakota is almost the last resort now, as Nevada, Florida and others have become unattractive. However, the S. Dakota legislature is discussing closing this loophole too, so unknown how long this option will last.

Yes, no problem with SS benefits being deposited into foreign banks for now. And, this may not change. However, the bigger issue is getting service when something goes wrong with that deposit. For now, expats in Thailand with Thai addresses have to contact Manila, and perhaps eventually will need to travel there in person for issues. If Doge closes the office or makes it untenable to get servicing, many expats will be forced to travel to the US to a local service office (thought those are rapidly being reduced too), perhaps, and even that may be problematical without a US address in that SS service center's jurisdiction - you will not be able to schedule this unless it is in your assign area based on your address. So, this could be the start of a squeeze on US expats. The larger looming issue here of course is that all of this crap by Doge and Trump is part of a plan to discredit the agency, thereby setting up a situation of claiming the agency does not work and needs to be privatized, with Doge raiding the trust fund for other purposes likely.

This only applies to new claimants for now. However, the bigger concern for expats in Thailand is that indeed the Philippines office may be targeted for closure or have severe staffing reductions by this Doge gang. Doge and the administration does not give a crap about expats, and in fact, shows disdain for them as these and other actions on immigration show. For that reason, I'm not sure it's a sustainable long-term plan to maintain a foreign Thailand address only, because if they tighten the screws further, obtaining the ID.ME and other authentication methods might become increasingly difficult or impossible going forward without a full US address and phone number, etc.. However, even that issue has now become more difficult for nomads and expats. The USPS has a new requirement that all users of private post office box centers must provide evidence of an actual permanent address in the US, so things seem to be getting more difficult for US expats year-by-year.

To those on this thread who think this isn't a real concern, you are not keeping up with the latest developments. This is more of an issue actually for those who have even better status than a 10 year visa. It's a big issue of concern for all green card holders now. If you don't believe this, just check with noted US immigration law firms (there are many on youtube), and the reports are pouring in of green card holders being denied entry to the US for a variety of reasons. Thai citizens are mostly ok because it's not a country of concern largely for the Trump administration now, but attorneys are warning strongly that green card holders risk being detained and deported upon re-entry to the US now. This is really crazy stuff and shows how bonkers this administration has become. But, for this OP, as his wife merely has the 10-year tourist visa, it's probably not a big issue because she has no right to reside in the US anyway, so they are likely not as concerned about this category of visa holder. Nonetheless, there is a big chilling effect on US tourism now as I read this morning as foreigners do not want to suffer the hassle of visiting the US.