Dear Larry and friends, thank you for the kind work that you do and help you provide to so many people. From my readings I feel that there may be Hope for my wife and I concerning our fears about our current Social Security Benefits. I applied at age 66 out of necessity, broke and had spent 40 yrs doing non profit charity work with various organizations for only room and board until Donations stopped due to Crash. We all were told that all such activities could no longer be funded and we should all seek other forms of work. So in 2011 my wife and I began seeking employment and in 2014 at age 66 I filed for my Social Security Benefits. At first I was told I did not qualify for any due to lack of financial earnings but after telling them that I was a Viet Nam veteran they said that I would qualify. I was also told that my wife would also receive a benefit, yet between us they stated giving us a total combined of $321 a month. Now I will be turning 70 yrs old in May 2018 and we are at a combined total of $465 a month. We were told that our rate could not be increased, even though we have both been in the workforce since we applied. Fearing that when we can no longer physically work, how will we be able to keep our home or make any mortgage payments.Is there any way that Social Security would increase our benefits or can you any help to our deep concerns. Thank you for kind consideration of our distressing situation and please feel free to call or contact me at any time. Pat

Hi Pat,

Unfortunately, it sounds like you and your wife are probably already receiving about as much as you're entitled to from Social Security. Any Social Security covered earnings that you've had since filing for benefits could increase your benefit amount, but those increases are normally automatic and are probably already reflected in your current rate, except for your 2017 earnings and possibly your 2016 earnings if you worked in those years.

You might want to submit copies of your W-2 forms to Social Security if you had wages in the last 2 years, or copies of your tax returns if you were self-employed, and ask for a recomputation of your benefit rate. The same would apply for your wife if she worked in those years. Also, if your wife is only receiving spousal benefits and has had earnings since you filed, it's possible that she may have earned enough quarters of coverage to be eligible for a higher benefit rate on her own record. That's probably a longshot, though, but she might want to check it out with Social Security.

You may also want to look into the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program depending on your financial circumstances. SSI is a needs based program administered by Social Security (https://www.ssa.gov/ssi/). It's possible that you and your wife might qualify for SSI if you have resources of less than $3000 excluding the value of your home and 1 vehicle.

Best, Jerry