Headlines
Stop striking fear in America’s seniors to accomplish political and budgetary objectives
Andrew Briggs, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and contributor to Forbes writes in his article, Social Security, the Debt Limit, and the Washington Monument Strategy how the latter is a ploy used by the government agencies to avoid budget cuts.…
How does a Social Security COLA work?
The purpose of the Cost-of-Living Adjustments, COLA, is to ensure that the purchasing power of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits is not eroded by inflation. Congress enacted the COLA provision as part of the 1972 Social Security…
This is the decade when retirement gets redefined
The days of retiring with a generous pension and gold watch are gone and replaced with 401(k)s. Is this the decade when retirement is redefined for the middle and working-class? According to Jason Schenker, an economist, and chairman of The…
A few ways to pay for long-term care in retirement
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has projected more than one in four retirees will need long-term care (LTC), costing more than $100,000. Also, around 15 percent of retirees will require care costing more than $250,000 or even…
Radical change to our retirement system tucked into the budget reconciliation bill
Elizabeth Bauer, a senior contributor for Forbes, admitted that she was “embarrassed that a radical change to our retirement system” escaped her notice. Included in the “Build Back Better” Budget Reconciliation bill, employers with five or more employees would have…
Should You Insure Against Social Security Going Bust?
The yearly release of the Social Security Trustees reports always comes with a flurry of articles and financial expert advice, and 2021 was no different. This piece by Mike Obel of Yahoo Finance cites the Nationwide Retirement Institute’s 2021 Social Security Survey that…
America’s Safety Net: Welfare and Social Security
This Great Courses introductory post explains TANF (what we generally call welfare) and Social Security. The latter is often not well understood by the public. Jennifer Nicoll Victor of George Mason University explains it is a pay as you go program…
40% of Americans Will Regret This Retirement Move
Kailey Hagen cites a new fascinating study about how people think about retirement. The Transamerica survey didn’t say that respondents weren’t saving for retirement, only that they preferred not to think about retirement investing until they were closer to their…
Will Immigrants Save Social Security and Medicare from Financial Trouble?
Chris Tomlinson of The Houston Chronicle has an op-ed that details the trouble faced by Medicare and Social Security. He notes Congress has avoided the necessary fixes for decades to instead focus on reelection. The choices include increasing taxes, reducing benefits,…
Should You Worry About Social Security?
Yes and no are generally the answers to whether one should worry about Social Security’s finances. Cyrus Purnell of Forbes describes the predictable headlines and news stories that follow each release of the annual Trustees report. He explains that while…