Headlines
Definition Time: “Wage Indexing” and How it Works
Yesterday’s headline post on this site discussed a paper by AEI senior fellow Andy Biggs identifying “wage indexing” as a key culprit in Social Security’s long-term funding problem. As our post pointed out, wage indexing is the process of using…
Focusing on the Insolvency Problem: A Look at One of the Fundamental Drivers
In this first part of a two-part study, American Enterprise Institute (AEI) senior fellow Andrew G. Biggs challenges one of the basic narratives associated with Social Security’s steadily eroding financial picture. Specifically, his article addresses the issue of wage indexing…
Innovative Thinking for Social Security Reform
Last week, Senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Tim Kaine of Virginia went public with additional details on their bipartisan proposal to create a separate wealth-generating fund to address Social Security’s long-term funding problem. Their announcement led with this claim: …
Social Security Insolvency and the Math Behnd It
A few weeks ago, the Social Security Board of Trustees issued its annual report on the program’s financial status at the end of 2024. As expected, it wasn’t good news. It signaled the loss of another year before the program’s…
Social Security Representative Payee vs. Power of Attorney
One rumor our Social Security Advisory Service encounters is that there’s no need for a Representative Payee designation if you have Power of Attorney (POA) for a beneficiary. This rumor causes confusion when a relative or close family friend steps…
Will your Social Security check be cut?
Improper payments, generally overpayments, were made by the Social Security Administration between 2015 and 2022, totaling $72 billion. There are various reasons why overpayments occur; the most common error is failure to report changes involving income. By law, the Social…
How much in savings will the new deductions provide?
When the “Big, Beautiful Bill” was signed into law on July 4th, it included a new senior tax deduction (temporary) aimed at those seniors who pay taxes on their Social Security. Because this bill was a reconciliation bill, it could…
Retirement planning mistakes to avoid
The fear of running out of money or being unable to afford necessary expenses in retirement can be overwhelming. If you have retirement anxiety, several coping mechanisms can help you not to feel so overwhelmed. The first and most important…
Will you pay taxes on your Social Security benefits?
No wonder there has been so much confusion around the One Big Beautiful Bill and the elimination of taxes on Social Security benefits! The Social Security Administration published a press release saying, “A provision that eliminates federal income taxes on…
The One Big Beautiful Bill Is Now the Law of the Land
The victory laps are underway, the pre-passage performance politics have ended, and the dust is settling on H.R. 1, “The One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.” Now, in the aftermath of President Trump’s Independence Day signing of this historic legislation, America’s…