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Original Medicare or Medicare Advantage plan: Which is best?
Influenced by Medicare’s Open Enrollment period, which runs now through December 7th, many seniors are focused on which of the multiple Medicare options is best for them. If you’re new to Medicare, then deciding on whether to go with original Medicare or a Medicare…
The Medicare Open Enrollment window is open.
The Medicare Open Enrollment window opened on October 15th and runs through December 7th. It’s during this time that you should evaluate your current Medicare Advantage plan to make sure it’s the best one for you and, if appropriate, make…
Preventing Social Security from Garnishment
Social Security benefits for most retirees are a significant percentage of their monthly income, so having your money garnished by a creditor is scary. The garnishment of your Social Security benefits could reduce your retirement income to the point where…
The Major Problem with this Common Retirement Income Advice
In your research on how much you’ll need in retirement to live on, you’ve probably come across the common advice that you need to replace 80 percent of your pre-retirement income. But, remember the old saying “rules are meant to…
There is No Perfect Age to Start Claiming Benefits
While many financial experts suggest waiting until your full retirement age (FRA) or later to file, there is no single perfect age to start claiming your Social Security benefits. However, in Maurie Backman’s article titled “Should I Wait To Take…
Will your Medicare premium go up next year? It depends
Millions of older Americans depend on Medicare for their health care coverage. For 2018, some will see their Medicare premium go up, some will see it go down (for Part D), and still others will see no change. It all…
Social Security’s 2018 payroll tax cap and earnings limits going up
Along with announcing that beneficiaries will see a 2% COLA increase in their benefit for 2018, the Social Security Administration also released news for those still working that the payroll tax maximum amount is going up to $128,700 (from $127,200) and that…
2018 COLA increase to be 2%
The Social Security Administration has just announced that the cost of living adjustment (COLA) for all beneficiaries will be 2% starting in 2018. While this only represents about $25/month for the average recipient, it’s the biggest in the last five…
Pay close attention to Social Security in your retirement strategy
With traditional defined-benefit pension plans largely disappearing from the employment landscape, Social Security takes on an ever increasing importance when planning for retirement. Two key claiming strategies for couples to maximize their benefits have all but disappeared, but it’s still…
Women shouldn’t wait to secure their retirement
Women face unique challenges when it comes to preparing for their retirement. They often don’t work as many years, earn as much, or save as much as their male counterparts, so planning for retirement should take an even more urgent…