Headlines
Expand a Program Headed for Insolvency?
(By: Jeff Szymanski, Association of Mature American Citizens) Who would spend more money on something that, in the absence of reform, will be insolvent in just over a decade? Answer—’The Left’ of course. That is just what 150 Democrat members…
Addressing the Solvency Issue–A Cause and Effect Discussion
Political analysts Yuval Levin and James C. Capretta, in a post today on The Weekly Standard, take aim at America’s deteriorating financial situation, at the core of which they assert is the steadily growing federal deficit and it’s projected 10-year…
The evolution of Social Security’s “Earnings Limit”
When the Social Security program was first enacted in 1935, the rules said that a worker needed to be at least 65 years of age before they could collect benefits and, if they worked and earned any amount of wages…
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…