About Tom Margenau

Tom Margenau

Tom Margenau

Tom Margenau worked for 32 years in a variety of positions for the Social Security Administration before retiring in 2005. For many years, he was the director of SSA's public information office at the agency’s headquarters in Baltimore, Md. In that post, he was the chief editor for more than 100 informational publications produced by SSA.

He also was SSA’s deputy press officer for several years, serving in that position as a chief spokesman for the Social Security Administration. Prior to that, he was a speechwriter for the Commissioner of Social Security. Before he moved to SSA's headquarters, he worked for 12 years in Social Security field offices around the country, where he processed Social Security claims while writing Social Security columns for local newspapers.

He has written the “Social Security and You ” column for national syndication since 1997. Margenau graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1971. He is married and has two grown children and five grandchildren.

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Benefit Adjustment at Full Retirement Age Oct 22, 2025

I hear one or both of these rumors about Social Security benefits all the time from readers. Rumor 1: "I have been told that if I take a reduced Social Security benefit at 62, when I reach my full retirement age, my benefit will be bumped up to my f... Read More

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Don't Drop the Ball Oct 15, 2025

Sometimes people will write to me complaining that the government, specifically, the Social Security Administration, has messed them up and cheated them out of benefits they might have been due. But many times (to use a sports analogy), the ball is i... Read More

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More Stories From My Trip to Poland Oct 08, 2025

About a month ago, I wrote a column about a trip I took on behalf of the Social Security Administration to Poland in the 1990s. To be honest, I thought readers would criticize me for writing it because I really wasn't doing what I'm supposed to be do... Read More

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Not Your Grandma's Social Security Office Anymore Oct 01, 2025

In the 1960s, Bob Dylan released an album called "The Times, They Are a-Changin'." I seriously doubt that the troubadour was thinking about Social Security when he wrote those ballads. But I can tell you that the times sure are a-changin' at the Soci... Read More