Social Security sees ‘dramatic’ peak of 276,000 applications
But the discussion that now takes place on economic indicators and the probability of a recession seems to be important factors in a stream of new archives to start benefit payments.
According to research by the Urban Institute quoted in a report from The New York Times276,000 additional social security applications were submitted during the first 10 months of the current tax year.
This is an increase of approximately 13% compared to the same time span a year earlier, researchers told The Times. The outlet reported that too Social Security Administration (SSA) Employees considered this peak as ‘dramatic’.
Jack Meuligan, a senior policy fellow at the Urban Institute, told The Times that the trend is ‘worrying’, because it takes early benefits, usually not seen as a ‘good decision’. Common advice means that you have to wait to start income payments from the age of 70 to maximize payments in later years.
“They are nervous about the threats for the Social Security Administration and their benefits, while at the same time they look at their 401 (K), if they have one, and worry about it,” said Smalligan.
A new beneficiary explained some of his reasons to choose to take benefits now instead of waiting for a few years to maximize the payments. The most important of these was the whip of the financial markets in response to White house Rate policy.
“The fall in market was the last drop,” he told The Times. He later said that the claim process went smoothly and that he started to receive his payments 12 days after application.
He also mentioned the rapid and disturbing steps of the Trump government to reduce the size of the federal government, which caused problems at SSA in recent months and in some cases led to public recoil and confusion. This stems from a few lines that were announced and then quickly declined and evoked a feeling of disagreement among those who are dependent on the program.
In March, the agency announced its intention to implement new personal identity verification requirements and revealed plans to close more than two dozen field offices throughout the country. Proponents of pensioners argued that the movements would aggravate the ability of older Americans to enter a program that often serves as their only source of income in later life.
Later that month, the agency announced that the identity verification processes could be carried out by telephone. But proponents claimed that this was not enough to stop the tide of unease about the future of the program and its administration.
