Headlines
Should you rely on Social Security for all of your retirement income?
Social Security was designed as a program to provide benefits for older Americans who no longer could provide on their own. Today, it is responsible for keeping more than 15 million aged beneficiaries above the federal poverty line. However, counting…
Retirement confidence high but savings are not
Are Americans feeling more confident about their ability to retire? According to the recent survey by AllianceBernstein, it finds that 47 percent of defined contribution plan participants – 15 percent more than last year – are feeling confident about their…
Here’s what could happen to your monthly Social Security benefit if the asset reserves disappears
Currently 62 percent of the 62.7 million Americans receiving Social Security benefits each month, 43.4 million of whom are retired workers, are reliant on their benefit check for at least half of their income. According to the latest Social Security…
Social Security is only part of your retirement income
According to data from Transamerica, the median retirement savings balance among Americans in their 60s is a mere $172,000. At first glance, this amount seems like a decent chunk of cash, but when we apply a 4 percent annual withdrawal…
Social Security: Who gets it and how much?
Dan Caplinger’s article presents an in depth analysis on what it takes to qualify for Social Security benefits and how The Social Security Administration figures one’s benefit amount. Essentially, to collect retirement benefits, one must be lawfully present in the…
Are the Social Security payroll taxes you paid yours? Absolutely not.
Jeff Szymanski works in political communications at The Association of Mature American Citizens. He wrote this piece to explain a common misconception about Social Security payroll taxes. Perhaps the biggest misunderstanding (but not the only one) when I taught my…
Social Security 2019: What You Need to Know
While no new legislation has passed this year that changes the fundamentals of the Social Security program, a number of changes do go into effect automatically, mostly due to inflation adjustments. This article by Mary Hickey of Consumer Reports highlights…
Mum’s the Word on Social Security this Campaign Season – But why?
Jeff Szymanski works in political communications at The Association of Mature American Citizens. He wrote this piece to explain why the Social Security issue is absent from this year’s campaign. You would think with Social Security running a deficit (spending…
Social Security & Insolvency – What Does It Actually Mean?
Jeff Szymanski works in political communications at The Association of Mature American Citizens. He wrote this piece in an effort to explain insolvency with an easy to understand example. Insolvency “The inability to pay one’s debts” is the dictionary definition…
Thoughts on Removing the Tax Cap to Save Social Security
Although it’s been a fairly constant part of many Social Security reform proposals, the removal of the annual limit on earnings subject to FICA tax as a way to address the program’s solvency issue continues to stall in the face…