When My Word Isn’t Good Enough

Some readers want legal references for the social security rules being explained.
When My Word Isn’t Good Enough
The Handbook is a much shorter version of the POMS. If you printed out the entire POMS, it would fill about 20 big three-ring binders. Sophon Nawit/Shutterstock
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Readers are always asking me to explain various Social Security rules and regulations. But sometimes they want more. They want to see something official—something in “black and white.” In other words, they want me to give them a legal reference for whatever rules I am explaining to them.

I sort of know where they are coming from. Often, they have heard one thing from a friend or a supposed trusted source, such as a financial advisor or even a Social Security representative. And then they read something different in my column or one of my books. I understand their confusion.

Tom Margenau
Tom Margenau
Author
Tom Margenau worked for 32 years in a variety of positions for the Social Security Administration before retiring in 2005. He has served as the director of SSA’s public information office, the chief editor of more than 100 SSA publications, a deputy press officer and spokesman, and a speechwriter for the commissioner of Social Security. For 12 years, he also wrote Social Security columns for local newspapers, and recently published the book “Social Security: Simple and Smart.” If you have a Social Security question, contact him at [email protected]