When applying for DISABILITY benefits, you agree to report income from work or self-employment and/or a medical improvement in your condition. Your friend may not have fully understood this when he first applied. However, since your friend is over age 62, he MAY be eligible for RETIREMENT (not Disability) benefits. These benefits would be reduced for age since your friend is younger than full retirement age. Have him ask Social Security for more information. If he is indeed overpaid, he has several options- pay back the full amount in one lump sum, spread out the debt by monthly refunds, or file for Reconsideration or Waiver. "Reconsideration" means he disagrees with the facts of the overpayment. If he wants to have the overpayment waived (forgiven), he will have to prove that 1. he did not cause the overpayment AND 2. that it will cause him financial hardship to pay it back. Again, contact Social Security. Visit your local office in person or call 1-800-772-1213 for information and/or an appointment.

Some of these rules don't make sense to me. It sure seems like there are a lot of ways to get far more social security benefits than were ever paid in. I don't blame people for taking advantage of the rules in place but I sure don't understand them. I understand and agree with survivor benefits but I really don't understand how a non-working spouse can get half of the working spouses benefits despite never paying in. It seems that it should be distributed at a household level based on household income if the marriage is maintained into retirement. It also doesn't make sense to me that multiple ex's can all collect the same amount. I don't understand how the system can sustain itself by paying out so much more than was contributed. But I guess that's why it's supposedly going bankrupt. If I'm wrong about any of these, please correct me as I would love to know the truth. My research has only shown me tips and tricks to maximizing benefits. I've been paying social security for 10 years and have another 35 to go. I really wish it were optional because I am pretty sure I will never see this money again.

I signed up for Social Security at age 62. I applied online. A day later a Social Security worker phoned me to ask one question and told me the amount I would receive and the date SS would start. Painless. Then about three months before I turned 65 I received my Medicare card through the mail. Because I was already getting SS I was automatically sent a Medicare card. Both Part A and Part B are shown on the card. If I chose not to pay for Part B the instructions said to mail back the card and they would send me a card for Part A only. If I chose to keep Part B with premiums deducted from my SS checks I was to separate the Medicare card from the rest of the paperwork they sent and put it in my wallet. Nothing more needed to be done. Easy peasy. I never drove anywhere to stand in any line to sign up for either Social Security or Medicare. Kessala

I also have a (slightly irrational) fear of identity theft. I do as Elizabeth does, I remove anything with name/address from junk mail, and that goes into the shredder. The shredded paper is used to start our wood stove. When we leave town, I collect up sensitive documents (bank statements, CC bills, etc) and put them in an unlikely spot. Our house is fairly secluded, and if anyone was bent on stealing data, they could spend hours in our house and nobody would know. I have info on tenants, which include applications with every piece of ID-theft data in one spot. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't protect that and someone got it. My document collection process takes me about 5 minutes, and I sleep better at night. With all of that, I don't take extra effort to protect tax records. They're in filing cabinets in an out-of-the-way closet, but they're there. They take up a lot of space, with two businesses, so I'm not sure what else I could do with them.