Headlines
Widows could benefit by changing Social Security’s survivor rules
While it’s true that women have made great strides to correct income inequality in the workplace, it’s a sad fact that widows are three times more likely to live in poverty than their married counterparts. This is largely because of the…
Restricted Application for Spousal Benefits Only…A Strategy Still Available
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 changed much of the strategic landscape for seniors, specifically with respect to options like “File and Suspend,” the rules for deemed filing, and so on. But one specific filing strategy that remains in effect…
COLA Watch – 2.8% Looking More Certain, But…
It’s looking more and more like the 2019 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security beneficiaries will land at 2.8%. Yes, that’s the largest since 2012 and yes, it’s 40% higher that the 2018 adjustment. But as MarketWatch reporter Alessandra Malito points…
The 2019 COLA increase could be the biggest in years
As we wind down the 3rd quarter of the year, the subject of next year’s Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) takes front and center stage. Year to year changes in the Consumer Price Index (specifically, the CPI-W) are what determines if…
Evolution of the Social Security COLA adjustment
The Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (or “COLA”) as we know it today is not at all what it looked like years ago. As a matter of fact, for the first decade of the Social Security program’s existence, there…
Is Social Security a form of progressive wealth redistribution?
If you’re familiar with Social Security’s formula for computing benefits, you’re aware that it is weighted to provide proportionately higher replacement income to those with a lower lifetime average income. Conversely, those with a higher lifetime average income see a proportionately…
The advantages of claiming your Social Security benefits early
According to a study from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, despite the benefits of waiting to claim your Social Security benefit, 48 percent of women and 42 percent of men started taking benefits at 62 and a…
The lesser-known advantages of a 401(k) plan
As traditional pensions were phased out, 401(k) plans were introduced to fill in the gaps. The tax benefits of traditional 401(k) plans are important but there are other, lesser known perks of 401(k) plans. Some of those perks include: after-tax…
Three examples of optimal Social Security claiming strategies
There are thousands of ways to claim Social Security when you consider factors such as spousal and child benefits. Laurence Kotlikoff, an economics professor at Boston University said “it’s definitely not a one-size-fits-all.” Kotlifoff created a complicated calculator that determines…
Protecting your surviving spouse while both of you are still alive
Losing a spouse is the hardest thing for married people. According to study by Merrill Lynch and Age Wave titled “Widowhood: The Loss Couples Rarely Plan for –and Should,” currently, United States has 20 million widows and widowers, with 1.4…