I am 661/2 and started collecting ss at 62. SS keeps saying they overpaid me. I can't get them to tell me why and when they overpaid me. They keep reducing my benefits and have already taken 686.00.
Please help me. I can't make ends meet. Thank you

Hi. The most common cause of Social Security retirement benefit overpayments is earnings in excess of the Social Security earnings test exempt amount (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html). I have no way of knowing if that's what happened in your case, though.

In any event, you should have received a notice explaining the overpayment. If you didn't, the only way to get a copy of the notice is from Social Security. As long as Social Security offices are closed, the only way to communicate with them is by phone or by mail. Contact information can be found on the following Social Security office locator: https://secure.ssa.gov/ICON/main.jsp, or you can call their national number 800-772-1213.

Your options with regard to overpayments are to a) pay the overpayment back or allow your benefits to be withheld in full until the overpayment is repaid, or b) request a lower withholding rate, or c) file an appeal, or d) file for waiver of the overpayment. The form used to request an appeal is an SSA-561 (https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-561.pdf), and the form used to request a waiver is an SSA-632 (https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-632.html).

If you can't get any cooperation from Social Security, the only other thing I can suggest is to contact the offices of either your U.S. congressional representative or one of your U.S. senators. Sometimes inquiries made to Social Security by members of Congress on behalf of a constituent can expedite resolution of the person's problem.

Best, Jerry