Social Security Threatens to Close All Field Offices

Member since 08 May 2013

gardener1Serial expat31 May 2014 23:01:34

675

Think having your Social Security income notarized and apostilled is almost impossible now? It could soon become worse.

Social Security Threatens to Close All Field Offices

Need to figure out whether it makes sense to retire at 62 or 65? Wondering how much your monthly Social Security benefit will be? Been married three times and wondering what that means for your benefit?

Answers have never been farther than your local Social Security office, where employees are extensively trained to give you accurate and helpful answers. Theres a reason Social Security is the most popular of all government programs.

But that will change if the Social Security Administrations Vision 2025 comes to pass. Bureaucrats are mulling closure of

most of SSAs more than 1,000 community field offices in the U.S., where 43 million people sought services last year.

Even as the number of visitors continues to grow, Vision 2025 would virtually eliminate face-to-face service, replacing it with Internet services and an 800 phone number.

Thirty thousand field office employees would be laid offfollowing nearly 11,000 positions already eliminated. When SSA sought its employees input for Vision 2025, they responded overwhelmingly that field offices were vital to the agencys mission.

Americans are going to be cheated out of what they deserve, said Witold Skwierczynski, head of the workers union bargaining council. Every Social Security beneficiary deserves the personal assistance they have paid for their entire lives.

Read more:
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/2404 … ld-offices

mugtech ViP

Member since 08 September 2012

mugtechViP02 June 2014 19:32:46

4710

It has been not a matter of if but when concerning the SS offices closing. Government is just another business trying to make the customer do all the work while avoiding their questions. Sometime in the near future all tax returns will be required to be E-filed.

BobH Serial expat

Member since 07 June 2011

BobHSerial expat02 June 2014 20:19:30

841

At risk of crossing the line into politics, the problem most of us have in judging questions like this is that we are both the recipients of benefits from the government, and also the person paying for them.

As a recipient, I want my benefits delivered to me in a manner requiring as little effort on my part as possible.

As a taxpayer, I want to see the government lower its costs wherever possible.

The two goals are not always compatible, unfortunately.

mugtech ViP

Member since 08 September 2012

mugtechViP02 June 2014 20:36:16

4710

gardner1 hit the problem for potential expats, as in how hard will it be to get proper proof of your retirement income? With all new recipients required to get direct deposits, once the flow starts there should be little that goes wrong, but still potential communication problems will get worse.