Headlines
What Remarried Widows and Widowers Need to Know About Social Security Benefits
Mary Beth Franklin, a contributing editor at InvestmentNews and a nationally recognized expert in Social Security claiming strategies, provides an analysis of strategies for remarried widows and widowers to maximize their Social Security benefits. In an article posted on www.investmentnews.com,…
Congress Back in Session…Spending Issues to Dominate Activity
Congress re-convenes today with a heavy schedule of work ahead of it. The looming possibility of a governmental shutdown, coupled with major domestic and foreign policy issues currently on the table, promises to keep lawmakers engaged between now and the…
Labor Day Thoughts…When will you retire, or will you retire?
You may have noticed, either in the media or from conversations with friends and family, that a fair number of people are forgoing the traditional “retire at 65 (or 62)” approach in favor of extending careers. For many, it’s a…
Non-working spouses…some ways to improve retirement prospects
A recent survey by Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies and Aegon Center for Longevity and Retirement highlighted the financial shortfall facing non-working spouses, indicating about than half of the respondents are not confident about having a comfortable retirement. Emily Brandon,…
A Case Study: The Perils of Claiming Social Security Early
In this response to a submitted Q&A item, Robert Powell (editor of Retirement Weekly and a USA Today contributor) provides a case study explaining the implications of an early Social Security claim coupled with the impact of the Government Pension…
Working longer may not be the answer…
Researchers have developed a methodology for assessing the risk of extending one’s working years as a part of financial planning for retirement. Called the “susceptibility index,” it’s a measurement of how well the skills needed to remain viable in a…
University of Michigan study dispels ACA notion of increased retirements
A conference paper presented recently by Helen Levy, Research Associate Professor at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, Ford School and School of Public Health, provided a synopsis of retirement statistics that differs from the Affordable Care Act’s…
In defense of Social Security
The newswaves at times seem saturated by pessimistic reports of Social Security’s lack of long-term viability, and survey results appearing in a variety of places support that many younger workers do not expect to benefit from the program in their…
Medicare premium hikes and the “hold harmless” provision–an explanation
As the planning for 2016 unfolds, and as the likelihood of a zero COLA for Social Security recipients sinks in, attention is being focused on what could be a major increase in Medicare premiums for an estimated 15 million seniors.…
Rubio in Myrtle Beach, advocates reasonable changes to Social Security
Presidential hopeful Marco Rubio’s campaign visited Myrtle Beach Friday, discussing many of the main aspects of his political platform. During a breakfast speech, he touched on Social Security, suggesting potential modifications that he characterized as “not outrageous and unreasonable changes.”…