Headlines
Update on the Social Security Solvency Dilemma
Lisa Gerstner, Contributing Editor for Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, provides an analysis of the Social Security solvency dilemma in a post on Kiplinger.com’s Retirement page. Her remarks provide an effective summary of the funding problem, rightfully noting that declining birthrates and the resulting change…
Social Security and Progressive Thinking: A Look at Statistics
“The latest Congressional Budget Office figures for 2017 show that the federal fiscal system—both taxes and direct benefits—is very progressive and redistributive.” So says the Tax Foundation in their commentary on the CBO’s recent study titled “The Distribution of Household…
Seniors Speak Out on Social Security & Medicare Reform
Social Security and Medicare reform are extremely important to America’s Seniors. That’s an understateent of sorts, but it’s equally important that the viewpoints of those most direclty affected by these two critical programs are heard by those responsible for planning and…
Is Biden Looking at Social Security Reform as a Legacy?
At least one prominent voice has raised the possibility that Social Security might evolve as a legacy of Joe Biden’s presidential tenure. Although Social Security reform is not high on the early priority list for the new administration, action on several…
Why Social Security COLAs need a reality check
According to a May 2020 report by the Senior Citizens League it found between January 2000 and January 2020, Social Security benefits lost 30 percent of their purchasing power. A person who retired in 2000 with the average monthly benefit…
The pros and cons of claiming Social Security at 70
You can file for Social Security benefits as early as age 62 or delay your filing all the way until 70. Filing for your benefits early will shrink them on a permanent basis, while delaying will result in a permanent…
Social Security survivors benefits
In 2019, there were 3,878,012 widow and widowers receiving Social Security survivor benefits. Along with this large number, there is much confusion about applying for survivor benefits, and even more confusion about how much new filers might receive. The first step…
The price of claiming benefits as soon as possible just got a little steeper
Without Social Security benefits, about four in ten Americans aged 65 and older would have incomes below the poverty line, all else being equal, according to official estimates based on the 2019 Current Population Survey. Social Security benefits plays a…
Can Biden Save Social Security and Medicare?
In this interesting Chicago Tribune editorial piece appearing in the Akron Beacon Journal, a case is made that, as President, Joe Biden has an opportunity to do what Presidents before him have studiously avoided – tackle head-on the looming financial crises…
Are You Ready To Retire?
Deciding when to hang up those work clothes is, arguably, one of the most important decisions you’ll make in your lifetime. So it follows that it’s very important to fully evaluate whether you’re actually ready to retire, not only from the…