U.S. - Social Security Announces 5.9 Percent Benefit Increase for 2022

[Pib]

Sure....a U.S. bank will post international transfers on a holiday or weekend like 3 Jan....heck, some U.S. banks will even post a direct deposit like a SS pension a day or two earlier than the payor's instructions because such banks basically cash-flow the early payment especially since they know a govt payment/transfer is not going to be fraudulent.   

 

But Thai banks will not (or generally do not) post international transfers on a weekend/holiday...and 3 Jan is a Thai holiday.  And Thai banks definitely don't post early/cash flow an international direct deposit.

[mtls2005]

My SSA payment gets deposited directly into my bank account in the U.S., so that's what I focus on.

 

https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10031-2022.pdf

 

 

[bendejo]

On 11/12/2021 at 7:38 PM, Pib said:

This $21.60 Part B increase means those on Part B and drawing around  $370 or less SS pension will not see any increase in their net monthly pension as the Part B increase ate up all of their pension COLA increase. 

 

But for folks drawing more than approximately a $370 pension the 5.9% pension COLA will be putting more money in their pockets...like a person drawing say a $1000 pension would see a $59 pension increase before the Part B increase of almost $22 which would then  lower money hitting your pockets down to $37 which nets out to a 3.7% increase when all the COLA and premium dust settles.  For a $2000 pension the 5.9% COLA would result in a $118 pension increase before being Part B reduced $22 netting out to $96 or 4.8% pension increase.

 

Fortunately the large pension COLA increase this year pretty much mutes the large Part B increase.

The story in the media has been that the large Part B increase has to do with a new, expensive Alzheimer's drug

Alzheimer’s drug cited as Medicare premium jumps by $21.60

 

Well, Monday brought this bit of news

Biogen cuts the price tag on its Alzheimer’s drug in half

 

Does this mean the Medicare premium for 2022 will go back to the $10 it was originally planned to be?  I don't advise anyone to hold their breath for that one!  But I do suspect the timing of these announcements -- would have been very different if the price-cut announcement was made a month ago.  Pharma is one of the largest graft lobbying cartels in the US. 

 

 

[ubonjoe]

 Has anybody gotten their COLA letter from the SSA in the mail. Normally I get it by the middle of the month or so.

I use it for part of the proof of the source of my income when applying for my extension of stay is why I am asking.

[Smokin Joe]

12 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

 Has anybody gotten their COLA letter from the SSA in the mail. Normally I get it by the middle of the month or so.

I use it for part of the proof of the source of my income when applying for my extension of stay is why I am asking.

Not by mail, but it was available in my SSA account to download.

[ubonjoe]

1 hour ago, Smokin Joe said:

Not by mail, but it was available in my SSA account to download.

I don't have one and cannot setup one since I don't have a confirmable address in the states.

[racyrick]

6 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

 Has anybody gotten their COLA letter from the SSA in the mail. Normally I get it by the middle of the month or so.

I use it for part of the proof of the source of my income when applying for my extension of stay is why I am asking.

I have not and I am in the same boat as you.

I also do not have a US address to verify but next week I am going to try and get an myssa account using ID.me

Hope the notice comes next week and relieve my stress!

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, racyrick said:

I have not and I am in the same boat as you.

I also do not have a US address to verify but next week I am going to try and get an myssa account using ID.me

Hope the notice comes next week and relieve my stress!

My extension is not until August so plenty of time to get something. Maybe a income letter from the SSA if I don't get it,

Maybe it will show up next month.

[KhunLA]

7 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

 Has anybody gotten their COLA letter from the SSA in the mail. Normally I get it by the middle of the month or so.

I use it for part of the proof of the source of my income when applying for my extension of stay is why I am asking.

Is it just an added document?

What else do you use for income verification?

[ubonjoe]

18 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Is it just an added document?

What else do you use for income verification?

I also submit my SSA-1099.

Also a 12 month bank statement showing my international transfers. And  bank book copies showing my transfers.

[KhunLA]

47 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I also submit my SSA-1099.

Also a 12 month bank statement showing my international transfers. And  bank book copies showing my transfers.

Have you ever tried it without the bank info, and just the SS info?  Sort of, in lieu of the ol' income affidavit from embassy.

[cmarshall]

9 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Have you ever tried it without the bank info, and just the SS info?  Sort of, in lieu of the ol' income affidavit from embassy.

That is not likely to work.  At CW they scrutinize the bank statement very carefully.

[ubonjoe]

10 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Have you ever tried it without the bank info, and just the SS info?  Sort of, in lieu of the ol' income affidavit from embassy.

No

Proof the transfers from a bank is clearly stated in the immigration order tor for the income option.

[mtls2005]

I have not received this COLA letter, although I have received it in previous years.

 

Maybe send an email to the SSA office in Manila and request a copy? They seem responsive to email requests having sent me 1099 PDFs the last two years.

 

I get ext stay/ret-inc at CW never been asked for the COLA letter, or any primary income verification (yes I have it in hand if requested). Just the BBL CARs, BBL CAR summary letter, bank books and copies and BBL account ownership letter. I transfer money monthly from the U.S., but am planning to move to the 800K thing in 2022.

 

13 hours ago, racyrick said:

I also do not have a US address to verify but next week I am going to try and get an myssa account using ID.me

 

I did this a few weeks ago, and it was a significant effort. I needed a U.S. address, and you'll need a U.S. mobile number phone to receive the link to upload your own-created selfie/video. I used my FIDO key for 2FA, but you may be able to use the U.S. mobile number.

 

I have LOGIN.GOV, and use that for CBP stuff (GlobalEntry) but use ID.ME for mySSA.

 

 

[ubonjoe]

18 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

I get ext stay/ret-inc at CW never been asked for the COLA letter, or any primary income verification (yes I have it in hand if requested). Just the BBL CARs, BBL CAR summary letter, bank books and copies and BBL account ownership letter. I transfer money monthly from the U.S., but am planning to move to the 800K thing in 2022.

They certainly wanted the proof at the office here since 2019 when I did the first one.

I don't get the redundant letter listing my transfers since they are shown as foreign transfers on my bank statement plus the bank here didn't have a clue about doing it.

Glad to know that I am not the only one that has not get the letter. Maybe this month.

[racyrick]

7 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

I have not received this COLA letter, although I have received it in previous years.

 

Maybe send an email to the SSA office in Manila and request a copy? They seem responsive to email requests having sent me 1099 PDFs the last two years.

 

I get ext stay/ret-inc at CW never been asked for the COLA letter, or any primary income verification (yes I have it in hand if requested). Just the BBL CARs, BBL CAR summary letter, bank books and copies and BBL account ownership letter. I transfer money monthly from the U.S., but am planning to move to the 800K thing in 2022.

 

 

I did this a few weeks ago, and it was a significant effort. I needed a U.S. address, and you'll need a U.S. mobile number phone to receive the link to upload your own-created selfie/video. I used my FIDO key for 2FA, but you may be able to use the U.S. mobile number.

 

I have LOGIN.GOV, and use that for CBP stuff (GlobalEntry) but use ID.ME for mySSA.

 

 

I did the id.me already and I only had a Thai address and phone number. It is a pain in the butt, but it can be done.

First, I downloaded a copy of my Thai credit card statement to prove my address.

It let me enter my Thai phone number with no problem but, it would not let me enter a Thai address so I left the address blank and when I hit next or continue, the next page asked me if I wanted a live interview which I said yes and did.

The code did come to my Thai phone number.

Hope this helps, good luck.

[mtls2005]

16 hours ago, racyrick said:

the next page asked me if I wanted a live interview which I said yes and did.

Ah, OK.

 

I did not have to do a personal live interview, so my registration process was more exhaustive I assume.

 

 

When you login now do you receive a 2FA SMS on your Thai phone? You can use a FIDO Security Key as an option.

 

Login.gov is linked to my thai mobile, and I have received the 2FA SMS for that successfully. I think I now use the FIDO key for this one too,

 

Can you then link to and log in to government sites like mySSA, IRS and CBP?

 

Your experience should help many, many others here. I think someone here was looking for a way to get at his pension info or local credit union account, which was moving to login.gov, but not sure if it also allowed id.me?

 

 

Note that internet access to mySSA is governed by its opening hours.

 

Service Hours
My Social Security is available during the following service hours (Eastern Time)

Day    Service Hours
Monday - Friday    5:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Saturday    5:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sunday    8:00 a.m. - 11:30 p.m.
Federal Holidays        Same hours as the day the holiday occurs     

 

https://www.ssa.gov/myssa-static/rel_1.0/offHoursPopup.html

Edited January 2, 2022 by mtls2005

[racyrick]

3 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

Ah, OK.

 

I did not have to do a personal live interview, so my registration process was more exhaustive I assume.

 

 

When you login now do you receive a 2FA SMS on your Thai phone? You can use a FIDO Security Key as an option.

 

Login.gov is linked to my thai mobile, and I have received the 2FA SMS for that successfully. I think I now use the FIDO key for this one too,

 

Can you then link to and log in to government sites like mySSA, IRS and CBP?

 

Your experience should help many, many others here. I think someone here was looking for a way to get at his pension info or local credit union account, which was moving to login.gov, but not sure if it also allowed id.me?

 

 

Note that internet access to mySSA is governed by its opening hours.

 

Service Hours
My Social Security is available during the following service hours (Eastern Time)

Day    Service Hours
Monday - Friday    5:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Saturday    5:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sunday    8:00 a.m. - 11:30 p.m.
Federal Holidays        Same hours as the day the holiday occurs     

 

https://www.ssa.gov/myssa-static/rel_1.0/offHoursPopup.html

Yes, the 2FA goes to my Thai phone.

 

I have only used this for the irs.gov site and never a problem.

 

I have not used it yet for the ssa.gov site or made a myssa account yet as I was waiting for the new year when I heard you would be allowed to make an account using ID.me. Hope that is true. Thanks for the ssa hours of operation.

My 3bb internet will not hook up the ssa site, so I have to use my True mobile internet access.

 

I will let you know how it goes if you don't try first. By the way, when I did apply at ID.me I still had to download my passport, selfie, Thai credit card statement for address verification and my SSA-1099 form.

[mtls2005]

1 hour ago, racyrick said:

I will let you know how it goes if you don't try first.

I'm all set, I've already "tried" everything. I can access mySSA, IRS and CBP. And now have both login.gov and id.me.

 

Whoever recommended this id.me thing, in another thread, deserves a serious round of thanks.

[racyrick]

On 1/2/2022 at 1:01 PM, mtls2005 said:

I'm all set, I've already "tried" everything. I can access mySSA, IRS and CBP. And now have both login.gov and id.me.

 

Whoever recommended this id.me thing, in another thread, deserves a serious round of thanks.

I am also set-woohoo!! No more worries about receiving my Cola Adjustment Letter in the mail that I need to show Immigration.

 

So for all concerned people, you CAN open an ID.me account From Thailand just using your Thai phone number AND your Thai address!! Pain in the butt, but it can be done and then you will have access to both SSA and IRS and create a myssa account. Happy New Year!!

[Pib]

On 1/2/2022 at 1:01 PM, mtls2005 said:

I'm all set, I've already "tried" everything. I can access mySSA, IRS and CBP. And now have both login.gov and id.me.

 

Whoever recommended this id.me thing, in another thread, deserves a serious round of thanks.

Regarding ID.me and the individual myssa, IRS, and CBP accts, did you apply three times thru ID.me for the myssa, IRS, and CBP logins or applying/qualifying for only one gave you access to all three?

[racyrick]

15 hours ago, Pib said:

Regarding ID.me and the individual myssa, IRS, and CBP accts, did you apply three times thru ID.me for the myssa, IRS, and CBP logins or applying/qualifying for only one gave you access to all three?

As for me, I registered just one time with ID.me and it allowed me to access both SSA and IRS.

[racyrick]

On 1/1/2022 at 8:40 AM, ubonjoe said:

They certainly wanted the proof at the office here since 2019 when I did the first one.

I don't get the redundant letter listing my transfers since they are shown as foreign transfers on my bank statement plus the bank here didn't have a clue about doing it.

Glad to know that I am not the only one that has not get the letter. Maybe this month.

Just to let you know, the Cola Adjustment Letter was mailed on December 11th, so with the holidays, I expect they should start to hit us next week.

[mtls2005]

On 12/31/2021 at 12:26 PM, ubonjoe said:

Has anybody gotten their COLA letter from the SSA in the mail.

My COLA letter arrived today, Bangkok 10110.

 

 

[ubonjoe]

16 minutes ago, mtls2005 said:

My COLA letter arrived today, Bangkok 10110.

Thanks

Maybe mine will appear later today or at least this week.

[Pib]

The mailed SS COLA statements for the wife and I arrived our Bangkok mailbox today/5 Jan 2022.  We had also already downloaded the statements on 14 Dec 2021 from our SS online accts. 

[ubonjoe]

Received mine a few minutes ago.

[shortstop2]

On 1/3/2022 at 5:51 PM, racyrick said:

So for all concerned people, you CAN open an ID.me account From Thailand just using your Thai phone number AND your Thai address!! Pain in the butt, but it can be done and then you will have access to both SSA and IRS and create a myssa account. Happy New Year!!

Will have to give this a shot.

[cmarshall]

On 1/5/2022 at 1:33 PM, Pib said:

The mailed SS COLA statements for the wife and I arrived our Bangkok mailbox today/5 Jan 2022.  We had also already downloaded the statements on 14 Dec 2021 from our SS online accts. 

By "COLA statements" do you mean the benefits verification letter that can be downloaded from ssa.gov?

[Pib]

1 hour ago, cmarshall said:

By "COLA statements" do you mean the benefits verification letter that can be downloaded from ssa.gov?

No...it's the annual COLA statement....different from the benefits verification letter you can generate any time you want.  The COLA statement will be in your myssa online message inbox.