So I saw last night when I made an My Social Security account that I had over 22k in overpayments. Called today and my father took out benefits when I was a little kid and never said a word about it to me. I never got a letter, any form of notification, and never saw the money he received either. I’m filling out the waiver now but I feel sick to my stomach.

I checked all the 3 reasons why it should be waiver, not at fault, can’t afford to pay it back, and it’s unfair. When on the phone though all they seemed to care about was if I could pay it back and I just graduated college and landed a pretty nice paying job. Even with all my expenses at max, I still do make around 700 a month as a 1099 employee, so technically yes I could pay it back eventually. But since I’m self employed I would rather be putting that money into a Roth IRA as my retirement account. I haven’t been doing that recently because I’ve been saving up to put a nice down payment on a new car as mine is on its last leg and I need one to work. Now I’m worried all they’ll see is yes I make enough to pay it back over the course of a few years.

I plan to write out a continued letter and attach it explaining in detail the situation, why I believe I cannot afford it, and how I see it as unfair and not at fault. Any other advice on how to not get stuck with such a huge bill?