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Social Security Struggles

Apr 02, 202541 min
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Episode description

Boston attorney Jim Roosevelt, grandson of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (who signed the Social Security Act into law) and former associate commissioner of the Social Security Admin. during the Clinton Administration, believes the Trump Admin. is “trying to hollow out Social Security” and “undermine confidence in the system” by weakening the agency that manages the program. Do you think the Trump Admin. is doing more harm than good to the Social Security Admin. or straightening it out for the better? Attorney Roosevelt joined us to discuss!

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Transcript

Speaker 1

It's Night Side with Dan Ray I WBS Costs Radio.

Speaker 2

Well, thank you very much. Welcome back everyone to hour number two. Delighted to be joined by Jim Roosevelt. James Roosevelt who's been a friend for many, many years, and last night we were supposed to have him, but he was on a train that ran some transportation problems and Jim, I trust your off that train. How are you tonight?

Speaker 3

I'm off that train and I slept in my own bed last night. Yeah.

Speaker 2

Let me tell you. We spoke last night for about an hour about Social Security, which has obviously had a lot of a lot of conversation lately dealing with Social Security. You probably know more about Social Security than anyone that I know, as the grandson of Franklin Roosevelt, who signed the Sociecurity Act in five and you've been involved in insurance and been served as as a commissioner on the so Security Board. I'd just like to start off with

a couple of questions that I think are foundational. And I'm not sure most people really understand Social Security, and I think it's important for people to understand it. I do social Security system as an insurance program. How far how far wrong am I on.

Speaker 3

That, and you've got it right. Actually, a lot of people think of it as a retirement investment program. Apparently our friend Elon thinks of it that way. That's not what it is. I'm all for people saving money and having all kinds of investment accounts, but particularly for one case and health savings accounts and so on, that's not what social Security is. Social Security, as my grand father said, is insurance against destitution in old age, or in disability,

or from the loss of a parent. It's fundamentally it's just like your homeowner's insurance, your auto insurance, or even your health insurance. You buy insurance, you spread out the risk when you need to need payments, either of your age or because of a disability or something like that. The people who currently are paying premiums.

Speaker 4

Pay for that.

Speaker 3

But it's not a Ponzi scheme. As Elon decided to call it. That indicated he either doesn't understand what Social Security is or he doesn't understand what a Ponzi scheme is.

Speaker 2

I also look at it as a besides being an insurance program, it's also a contract. I don't want to take it to the level of it being a social contract. But I think it's a contract where if you pay in and you work the requisite number of years, which is ten years or forty quarters upon a certain time, you then are able to receive some retirement benefits. So I see it as kind of twofold insurance and contractual. Yes.

Speaker 3

No, so, yeah, social security. A lot of people kind of shigh away from the term social contract, but it's a contract between you as a worker and other workers represented by the government. Basically, you pay your fair share, you expect to get your fair share of benefits.

Speaker 2

Yeah, so there's sort of these dual elements of it.

Speaker 3

Now.

Speaker 2

I know that a lot of people are pretty freaked out about some of the stories that have been written into the newspaper. In the newspapers recently, I referenced last night not only your experience, but also the piece that now I guess is I'm not sure if it's hit the Globe yet or not, but there's there's a piece with you in the in the Globe, and I'm not sure if it's in the digital edition or if we'll get it tomorrow.

Speaker 3

Was updated, it's only been in the in the digital edition. You're right, you know that I know that because we still look at the great edition, right.

Speaker 2

Yes, of course, of course, of course we're of the same uh, the same vintage Jim Roosevelt. So uh that.

Speaker 3

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Robert Reisman of the Globe staff, uh has has this piece which I suspect will be in the paper tomorrow.

Speaker 3

Uh.

Speaker 2

Sean Murphy wrote a piece yesterday, uh, digging into Social Security, which which looked at a lot of these these issues. And what troubles me is I I did an hour, well I did two hours last night on it, and there were a lot of people who had questions. And I'm not the expert on soci security. I think I understand it, but I was trying to sort of assuage people's apprehensions. I mean, I think people need to be alert,

People need to be aware of what's going on. You yourself, you know, not only again you served you're an Associate Commissioner for retirement policy at the Social Security Administration. It's been headed by Republicans and Democrats. Jim Astrew is a friend of mine who was the Social Security Commissioner cast My Gaster. I apologize, I apologize. I was thinking of his son. Actually they went to school together at Roxbury

Latin School. So that's what happened. You you you missed, but he's uh, he was a George Bush forty three appointee, if I recall.

Speaker 5

Yeah, correct and R and so this is this has become this political issue with you know, Elon Musk having been injected.

Speaker 2

Into the middle of it. And I'm just wondering if uh, I don't know anybody who is in favor of waste and uh and you know, wasteful spending and fraud. So I'm assuming everyone would like to see any waste of fraud that is identified cleaned up. But how much waste of fraud? I've read enough of your piece yesterday. You

don't think there's a lot of waste and fraud. There may be mistakes, there may be some people who are on the system who shouldn't be, but the Republicans have made and matter of fact, President Trump in his speech to the Joint Session of Congress made that comment that they were like, I don't know, three five thousand people over the age of one hundred and fifty did you

watch that speech? And if you did, I'd love to know what your reaction was to it, because I think what the President was saying clearly clearly was misleading.

Speaker 3

Well, I did watch the speech, and I'm not going to comment on my views overall. I'll just on Social Security mislet someone misled him on that what he was taking. He seemed to say that there was this large number of people over getting benefits over the age of one hundred and fifty. There is nobody getting benefits in that category.

First of all, when you reach out when the records show that you reached one hundred and fifteen, your benefits automatically stop and they will reach out to you and say, show us that you're still alive. Okay, So it's just mechanically impossible. But secondly, the reason it appears that way, and this is the problem with what the kids and I do mean kids. If you consider a nineteen twenty

twenty one year old a kid, which I do. When the kids go in and don't really understand something, they make mistakes and they have not had enough experience to say, wait a minute, that doesn't compute. They also don't takes the time. You know, the Silicon Valley is saying work fast and break things. Well, they work fast and they don't ask, well, why would it show up that there's that many people that old. Well, it's because so Security had one of the first totally computer based systems for

doing people's benefits. It's written in a computer language that was invented fifty or sixty years ago, invented actually by a team led by the first female admiral ever, Grace Hopper, and there was no setting in that language to insert the date when people when people were born. So they made up a date as a default and they picked a date sometime in the eighteen eighties so that people

wouldn't get confused. Yeah, there was no default date. If you had a date, it was okay, But there was no default date.

Speaker 2

So one would characterize that, and I've characterized it to the dismay of some of my listeners as in effect what would be called a coding error.

Speaker 3

That's exactly what it will was. And it's not that it was somebody's fault. It's that the code at that point did not allow for a default date, and so that all the people who had signed up for SOCI Security before there was computer code were listed on this

data in eighteen eighty okay. And it doesn't impact benefits at all, because, as I say, there's automatic cutoffs, and in general, Social Security has the Master Death List, where almost every death that occurs in the United States is reported to Social Security.

Speaker 4

Right.

Speaker 2

I learned that the other day as I was doing some research on it. I did not realize as an obligation of funeral homes to file a report of someone's passing. I was unaware of that.

Speaker 3

That is absolutely right, Yeah, that's absolutely right. That is a major source. But state medical examiners and departments of public health are also required to report.

Speaker 2

Now, I assume that if there's some people living in the wiles of Montana and someone passes away and there's no I guess it's conceivable that someone could be buried out on the back forty and a nice you headstone there, but the government would not know that. So there could be theoretically a handful of people here or there. But those people, if they were getting so Security checks every month for someone who had not been reported had passed, and if they were crazy enough to cash those checks,

they're involved. They're committing fraud against the government, cashing a check on behalf of someone other than themselves.

Speaker 3

Correct, they would end up in federal court charged with a crime. Absolutely so Okay. Another little known fact people don't know, and another reason that there is so little fraud at Social Security is so Security has its own police force that goes after things like this. It works out of the Inspector General's office, but they're actually Social Security police that investigate things like this. And there are

a few people who try to defraud the system. The most notorious one is when people try to have checks diverted to their bank account by stealing people's bank account and social security numbers. When I was, as you remember, Dan, when I ran tough self planned, one day a couple of Social Security police officers showed up at the front desk and they called me from down there and said, we've got a couple of people here who say there are Social Security police officers. And I said, yeah, I

know what that is. You do, Yes, I do from when I worked to work there, And so we talked with them about My general counsel joined me in talking with them, and they said, we think three of your employees are taking screenshots of people's health plan records to get their day to birth, their social Security number, and their and their bank account numbers and diverting checks there.

And they investigated they had arrested three health plan employees on the spot and ultimately prosecuted them and they went to prison. Okay, this is not like, you know, like just let it go.

Speaker 2

No, I just did it because obviously, if money is misdirected, or if there are those engaged in fraud, that means that So Security has less funds available to pay out to people who either have a disability, you know, or the surviving spouse of someone who hadn't worked, or a retiree. My guest is Jim Rosell. As you can tell, he

knows a lot about this subject. And I have tried to cut through the statements that has been made that have been made by the Trump administration, and I have not taken any of them on face value, and every one that I have tried to investigate. The latest one that they have, which I'm going to ask Jim if if he's heard about it, is that some of the folks who have come in in the last few years have been given Social Security numbers even though they are

not US citizens. Now, those comments were made by Musk, I believe over the weekend in Wisconsin. Jim, I don't know if you're up to date on those or not. But I wanted to ask you about those on the other side because it seems to me that the burden of proof does risk rest with the Trump administration. And when I as go back to the to the speech the President made to the Joint Session of Congress, when he was going on with those numbers, I thought to myself,

this cannot be true. It just cannot be true, or people would know about it, because if people were ripping off the government, they would tell their friends. Hey, it's easy. So if you like to ask Jim Roosevelt a question about Social Security, and I want to get into some of the plans. There are our offices that are going to be closed. There's going to be a couple of changes that are significant regarding a telephone access, when you

have when you want to change your depositor bank. We'll go through all of that and take your questions along the way. My name is Dan Ray. This is Nightsime. My guess is Jim Rosevelt, who knows probably more about Social Security than anyone I know. Six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty, six one seven, nine, three, one, ten thirty Those are the numbers that get you through. Jim will stay with us until ten o'clock and he's he's agreed to do an hour and take some phone calls.

So if you want to ask a question, now is the time I learned in law school. As I've told you many times, there are no such things as dumb questions. The only dumb questions the ones you don't have the courage to ask, because those are the ones that show up in the midterm of the final exam. Trust me, back, couldn't That's through Jim, It's through back, couldn't that side?

Speaker 1

Right after of this, you're on Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's News Radio.

Speaker 2

My guest is Jim Roosevelt, the grandson of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He certainly understands the Social Security system. He worked as an Associate Commissioner for Retirement Policy for soci Security Administration before joining Tough's Health Plan as their senior vice president and general counsel. Now, I don't want to put you on the spot here, but there was some comments made I think at a campaign rally in Wisconsin. They're having a fight out there for one of these they elect

their state Supreme Court justices. In response and putting that aside, and over the weekend, either Elon Musk or one of his associates claimed that they had found a lot of people who were getting Social Security benefits who had been given Social Security numbers by the bidenministration, but people who are here illegally. Is there any substance to that. If you haven't heard about it, there's no reason for you to comment on it.

Speaker 3

But I did hear about it over the weekend, so I did some checking yesterday because the numbers didn't make sense to me, and they were large numbers. What I found out is these are people who legally got Social Security cards because and they would get them now under the Trump administration. It's not a political Like almost everything within Social Security, it's actually not a political issue. It's

actually an administrative issue. If you are here legally on a visa that lets you work, and you get a Green card, you are required to get a Social Security number so that when you work, you pay taxes and your employer pays taxes. So that's what these numbers are. Again, this is a matter of not understanding what they're dealing with fair enough.

Speaker 2

I mean, the numbers that they threw out there are are astonishing if true. But but again I think you've You've given an explanation, and let's we have full lines. Let's see what some of our callers want to talk about. And what I'm going to do is just take a very quick pause. We have to break for the news at the bottom of the hour. I wanted to get rid of that question. Uh, some of these questions might be with their own circumstances. Again, if you can help

them and guide them, that's great. I do know that there will be some Social Security offices closed if the DOGE team has their way, And I do know that I believe you can help me here on this one. That some of the telephone services that were available before today no longer can be accomplished over the phone. Most specifically, if you want to change the bank that where your

so security check is deposited directly. My correct on that that now people once they want to change their bank, theoretically an effort to avoid people becoming the victims of fraud, they have to go to the to a Social Security office and make that request in person.

Speaker 3

That is the rule that has been announced by the Acting Commissioner appointed by Musk and Trump. And actually I don't think that's a bad rule if you really want to know. Okay, there, it's not so security fraud, it's bank fraud. Okay. And yes, you can ask enough questions on the phone to eliminate ninety nine point nine percent of the fraud. But the point one percent people pretty unhappy if someone gets their so security check. So I actually think that one's okay.

Speaker 2

Okay, Well again, I think that's when I hear you say that, that means a lot to me. So we'll take a quick break. We've got a news break coming up, and I'm going to ask everyone who wants to get on the line if you have a question, great, not here to debate Jim Roosevelt. Please, you don't want to make that mistake. If you have a question, more than happy to entertain the question. And we'll try to get to as many callers as we can between now and ten o'clock right after this.

Speaker 3

Quickness, and we can talk about the office closures when we come back.

Speaker 2

Yes, absolutely, that's that's that's another one that we can that we will hit upon, that's for sure. Back on night Side right after this.

Speaker 1

Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's News Radio with.

Speaker 2

Me's Jim Roosevelt. Jim, we wanted to talk about there will be some office closures, which I don't know how much inconvenience. It's impossible to even anticipate how much inconvenience that will cause people. But I guess if they're going to cut back staff, and they have there will be there will be fewer office closures.

Speaker 3

Your comments on those, so be the doge kids that I call them, release a long list of offices that are going to be closed. Some of them were regular field offices, like you having many cities and towns, including Cambridge where I live. Some of them were hearing offices where you go when you appeal a denial of disability benefits or some problem with your retirement benefits. The list as it first came out was very long, many closures.

Some of them did not make sense geographically. Some of them, as you say, are going to be necessary if they're going to cut the staff. They have proposed cutting the staff by twelve percent, and SOUB Security was already at a bare bone staffing, the lowest staffing in the history of the agency, while having the highest number of beneficiaries in the history of the agency. So if they're going to cut the staff. They probably do need to close

some offices. They've already pulled back on some of those that we understand that that would be too much of a burden on people. I think there will be more changes, but people should stay alert on that.

Speaker 2

Okay, And one final question. I was able to a few years ago create my own social security my personal social Security account. It's called a free insecure of my Social Security. My understanding is that if you have a my Social Security account, you have already proven your identity to the government satisfactorily that if I were to move and have to change my bank deposit, if you have a my Social Security account, you can do that electronically.

You do not have to visit an office. Am I correct in that?

Speaker 3

That is the current state of the rules?

Speaker 2

Okay?

Speaker 3

That works great for somebody who's computer savvy, even to a basic degree like me, and I suspect you.

Speaker 2

Let me tell you it was. It was not a walk in the park, but I was able to accomplish it myself.

Speaker 3

I feel about things thought on computer right. So if you can do that, yeah, you're all set. But not everybody can do that. And that's why again, cutting staff is going to be a problem.

Speaker 2

Yeah, and I hope I hope that some of the senior centers and some of the senior organizations with every community, we'll learn how to do that and help people and walk them through it. Let's go to phone calls, my friend, we got a lot of people want to talk with you. Let me start it off with and again, I'm going to ask everyone please, we're not looking at debates, questions, comments. I'm going to move through a lot of callers quickly.

Let me start it off with John and Boston. John, go right ahead, You're on with Jim Roosevelt.

Speaker 4

Yeah, h good evening, good evening.

Speaker 3

Sure.

Speaker 4

I'm wonder if you could just mention what is the difference between the three types of social securities? Is A d I is as regular social security that I might know it as and SSI Because I know on the SSI, I am not allowed to leave the country more than thirty days. If I do, we'll take it away from me. I'm not allowed to have more than two thousands of the banks. And okay, let's.

Speaker 2

Explain that before we get to your situation. John. Let's get Jimmy. You're familiar with those specific categories. Can you comment on those.

Speaker 3

I am yes. A basic part of social Security is Social Security Disability Insurance ssd I, and that's you applied if you're disabled or injured, and there are a lot of rules to follow because you have to demonstrate that you are unable to work in order to get it. But that's the basic disability coverage. Then there there is SSI, which actually is not related to pardon me, yeah, what is the difference.

Speaker 2

He's about to explain it, John, Just hold on, okay, go ahead, go ahead, Please get this.

Speaker 3

So FFI is something totally different. That's Supplemental Security Income and it is essentially an income, an income replacement program. It's not an arned benefit like the rest of Social Security. It depends on a means test and it's not funded out of the Trust Fund of Social Security. It's appropriated by Congress out of the general budget. So that's a

separate thing. And then there is a Supplemental Disability Income, which if you are extremely disabled you can get some supplemental disability income.

Speaker 4

No, I think you know. I asked if I could leave the country to go to school another country, and they said I can't because if I do, I would lose it.

Speaker 2

Okay, let's see if that's true. Let's see John, Let's see if that's true.

Speaker 3

Jim Roselt. So you would not lose sociecurity disabilit the income coverage, but you would lose SSI coverage because that's to meet your cost of living in this country.

Speaker 4

I wish you would mention there was a woman in you. I saw this cabinet that doesn't get credit for Social Security. Her name was Francis Perkins. Do you know can you mention her?

Speaker 3

I'm actually I actually did a talk last week at Temple Israel about Francis Perkins with the author of a new book about her. The new book is called Dear Miss Perkins.

Speaker 6

UH.

Speaker 3

She was the only she was the first woman ever in a presidential cabinet. She was the only person in all four cabinets of my of the New Deal administrations.

Speaker 2

UH.

Speaker 3

And she was a real hero. The dear Miss Perkins are people who would write about UH, people particularly children and Jewish people who were displaced by the Nazis, and they would write and say, dear miss Perkins, and you help us get refugee status. And she particularly helped those people. So she was a wonderful wonderful hero. She was also controversial in her time because she tried to expand people's access to benefits, even with an attempt to impeach her,

which failed. Fortunately she but my grandfather did not walk away from her. He kept her in the cabinet even though people went after her.

Speaker 2

John great questions. Thank you much for your call. Let me go next to Kathleen and Melrose. Kathleen, you're next time, Nisager right ahead.

Speaker 7

Hi, thanks for taking this call. I have a quick question at specifics, so tell me if you can answer it or not. I'm calling for my mom. She's eighty three years old. She lives in California, and my father died of a surprise heart attack when she was fifty three. She's been a school teacher her whole life, which means she paid She doesn't get Social Security because she paid into the California state.

Speaker 2

Whatever she does know she does now but glhead.

Speaker 7

Okay, so that's where I'm going with this. So my dad was in sales his whole life and had his pension was literally like twenty eight dollars a month.

Speaker 8

I mean, it was crazy.

Speaker 7

Anyway, her George for a very poor school district, and her retirement plan has been like twenty seven thousand dollars a year in total, so she's never gotten SOID security. Apparently it's happening now she's over the moon at age eighty three. She's going to start getting something like I don't know, fifteen hundred dollars a month. And someone just said, oh my goodness, I heard about that, and their mother same situation school nurse paid into the schools here in Massachusetts.

She not only is going to be getting like thirteen hundred dollars a month, but she got a check for like, I don't know, twelve thousand dollars. Is like a catchup because her.

Speaker 2

I know a little bit about that. Jim probably knows more, but I think those checks were more in the vicinity of about five thousand dollars because it was ketchup from last January January twenty twenty four, Jim, I'm sure you got a better answer, Goretta.

Speaker 3

Well, so, starting in nineteen eighty three, when they made a whole lot of changes in the Social Security law, people who worked for state and local governments that had chosen not to participate in Social Security were penalized, not just because they didn't get Social Security since they hadn't paid their Social Security tax and their employer had not, but they were penalized on not getting their spouses of benefits either. With some small exceptions. The law change was

changed by Congress about six or seven months ago. It's great news for people. And that large check is because it took so long to pass the law that it actually went into effect a year before it passed. It was retroactive, and so that's catch up for that year.

Speaker 7

Okay, so the catchup was one year. Her husband happened to passed away recently, so they thought it was and I thought, oh my goodness, there's no chance they're going to give my mom thirty years.

Speaker 3

But the catchup, that's right. The catch up is one year. And what it does, it's not it doesn't just give people those security benefits who hadn't paid in to Social Security, but if they had a spouse, it gives the benefits from their spouse, correct, whereas they were deprived of those before.

Speaker 7

Yeah, because my mom was like.

Speaker 2

Keathley, I hate to do this to you, but I got a whole bunch of callers and I think we got an answer for you. So I got to let you go. Thank you, Kathleen, appreciate it. We've got to take a quick commercial break back with Jim Roosevelt's going to get try to get everyone in. That's why it's important. Everybody has to get a couple of minutes. I wish I could give everybody twenty minutes. I can't do that in fairness. Back on nights Side right after.

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Speaker 1

It's night Side with Boston's news radio.

Speaker 2

I'm gonna try madily to get four callers in for you, toub. Let's see what we can do. You're gonna go to David in San Francisco. David questioned a comment right.

Speaker 13

Ahead, Yes, Dan, thank you for taking my calls. I want to thank you for your grandfather was just He did everything he used to put colb the country together. Kind of victory in your oppression, Dallas Francis Perkins. However, my question, sir, is do you have any suggestive things for me so I can get to the handicapped portion of Social Security.

Speaker 3

Yes. On the Social Scurity website there is affection regarding disability access and you should go to that. If you don't find what you're looking for, I do recommend that you make an appointment out of SOBI Security Field Office. The agents there are trained to help you access the disability benefits.

Speaker 13

All right, thank you, thank you very much, Thank you, David.

Speaker 2

Appreciate the quickness of the call. Appreciate it. Let me go next to Larry and down to the Cape. Larry next on Nightside with Jim Rosevelke right a head talking about social security.

Speaker 6

Yes, about ten years ago, my wife and I went down to the Hyenna's office to sign up the social security. She had her own statement and I had mine, and we went in and we signed up for it. And that's what we were informed that. Unfortunately, my wife was involved with that WEP because she was a teacher, but she also had a social security also paid into social Security,

so she had her own statement. So he said, and I don't know if this was the proper advice at that time, he said, my wife is better off collecting on her social security statement. I collect on mine and then when she's seventy switch it over and what happened was then COVID came and then I got sick. Long story short, I have an appointment now coming up next month. I couldn't make I couldn't reach anybody by phone. I did it online and I got an email and a

text saying it's going to be a telephone appointment. Is that the case now? And should my wife switch over to collect half of mine? That's what I want to do, because I'm collecting more than hers.

Speaker 2

I would say, do the telephone thing, Larry, and I'm sure Jim will have a better answer. But do the telephone thing. Have your wife with you at the time of the telephone thing so both of you can be available.

Speaker 3

Jim, yes that Dan, You're exactly right. It has all changed with the web as you referred to. It is the windfall Elimination provision, and that is part of what was changed by Congress about six or seven months ago. So it's worth taking another look at it. It might still be the same as it was before, but it might be better to do it differently. So it's a

good idea to have that telephone appointment. A telephone appointment is probably just as good as an in person appointment and they can get the details that I don't have here.

Speaker 2

So make sure your wife, Jim, Jim, Jim Rothera, Larry, make sure your wife is there because the time that.

Speaker 6

You get we're both going to be there. But doesn't it make sense for me to switch her to half of mine? It's another two one do dollars a month.

Speaker 3

Let them run the actual numbers and tell you.

Speaker 2

Let them do the analysis. Okay, thanks mis s calculator, good night, real quickly get Marrian Moubern. Gary next on Nice How with Jim Rosow. Go ahead, Gary, gotta be quick.

Speaker 8

Yes, I have a quick question. I'll just take the answer of the year. I'm going to be taking to an application on the phone tomorrow. So sixty one sixty two in May. They said my fresh check will be in July for fourteen hundred dollars a month. Jim, could you tell me all the other benefits are involved where I'll be also just getting a check?

Speaker 3

Thank you. So I think you should keep in mind that if you start taking benefits at sixty two what you're entitled to do, you will get a lower benefit than if you wait until your full retirement age, which is probably sixty seven and a half in your age bracket or a seventy when you'd get the highest benefit. But if you want the benefit now, you can take that cut and eventually when you hit seventy, they will adjust it to get you up with the full benefit.

Speaker 2

All right, I hope you heard that answer. Gary. Thank you for the quickness of the call. Quickly, let me go to Michael and Attenborough. Michael, you got to be quick for me. Got one out of call here. Please go ahead, Michael.

Speaker 6

Yeah, sir, I think you answer my question, but I want to ask you directly. My wife passed about six months ago. She worked for the state.

Speaker 14

They said, if you're not married at the time you're working, your husband's not entitled to any benefits. And I didn't realize maybe Social she did get a little bit of Social Does that only mean my pension?

Speaker 6

I did call Social Security office and they said, no, she's not.

Speaker 3

But I suspect that not everyone knows the rules, So I'm sorry for your loss. First of all, this is really a state pension question more than a Social Security question. Getting the Social Security benefit is not dependent on being married at the time you were working. Getting the state pensure benefit is right right.

Speaker 2

Well, Michael, I can't get into it much more deeply. I think when you talk to the people, you've got to explain your specific situation.

Speaker 6

Right, Okay, thank you very much, by bye.

Speaker 3

And the change in the law might help you. We'll see.

Speaker 2

Okay, hope you heard that. Let me go to Brenda on the Cape. Brenda, you the last call of the hour.

Speaker 4

Go right ahead, Brenda, by Dan, how are you?

Speaker 15

I want to just call? I was listening to you tonight and heard the conversation about the Social Security offices closing, and I just happened to be online with them the other day and they put out a press release dated in March twenty seventh stating that none of the offices are going to be permanently closing. That all you're hearing is false.

Speaker 8

So I would encourage.

Speaker 15

People to go to the site and read what I just read.

Speaker 3

That's partly correct. I would say some will be, but some of them will be just temporary as well.

Speaker 2

Yeah. Thinks a political process that's going on, and Congress may step into some of this as well. Brenda. Thank you, Bob, thank you for that information. We talked a little bit about that last night, as well, because I think we all need to kind of calm down a little bit. And you know, it may not be the Trump administration may not get everything they want. Here is what I'm trying to say.

Speaker 15

Okay, simplest thanks, that's right, and the more information that's out there for everyone to know about it think is better.

Speaker 8

We thank you, appreciate it.

Speaker 15

So nice to talk to you.

Speaker 2

Good to talk with you as well, Jim Roosevelt. Delightful to talk with you. Thank you for your time, and thank you for what you've done over the years for for people you know, in and and out of government. I really do appreciate our friendship as well.

Speaker 3

I appreciate it very much as well. And I always enjoyed talking with you, Dan and with your listeners.

Speaker 2

And we'll keep in touch, and who knows, a couple three months down the road, we may revisit this if circumstances change, if that.

Speaker 3

Would work for you, happy to do it.

Speaker 2

Thank you much, Jim Roosevelt, Ladies and gentlemen, a friend for many years and someone who is just a font of great information, and I hope all of you if maybe your question wasn't asked, you might have bet your question might have been asked by someone else. We're coming back on Nightside, going to talk about the decision of the Attorney General today to seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangioni. I think you know who he is. He's the guy that killed the insurance executive in New York

City on December fourth. I don't have a big problem with that. Left to know what you think. Coming back on Nightside,

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