Headlines
New Survey Cites Retirement Concerns
The most recent edition of the Schroders 2022 U.S. Retirement Survey, released today, calls attention to a somewhat glaring contradiction in viewpoints about Social Security retirement benefits. In a post today on pionline.com, Pensions & Investments reporter Margarida Correia notes that…
Why this change to Social Security is most likely to happen
There are many proposals to resolve the Social Security insolvency problem and preserve full benefits for Social Security recipients; not all have bipartisan support. However, there is one that enjoys this support: Tax income above $400,000 to help fund Social…
The cash needed to cover health care needs in retirement
Brian O’Connor of Yahoo Finance has a piece here explaining the math one needs to know to finance health care costs in retirement, especially since Social Security replaces a mere 40% of pre-retirement income. He cites the Fidelity Retiree Health Care…
New Safety Protocols to Address Long Waits at Social Security Offices
Lorie Konish of CNBC explains how recently opened Social Security offices are dealing with the huge influx of in-person meetings in the face of summer heat and continued Covid-19 precautions. Offices shuttered in March 2020 at the pandemic’s onset, but…
Maximize Social Security Benefits With These 4 Tricks
Neil Templin of Barron’s writes an easy to understand piece on how to maximize Social Security benefits. So much is written on this topic, but it usually boils down to this advice: make sure you have a full 35 year…
Social Security Earnings Test or Penalty: A Thorough Explanation
Tom Margenau, who writes a weekly column on Social Security matters, explains how the law has always stated that you had to be “retired” to get “retirement” benefits. The rules used to apply to all, but Congress gradually lessened the…
Happy Labor Day from Social Security Report!
We will be back Tue-Fri this week with more Social Security. In the meantime, take a 4 question quiz testing your your knowledge of this holiday that is the unofficial end of summer. Answers below. The Labor Day holiday grew…
The Elusive Maximum Social Security Benefit
There is a defined “maximum Social Security benefit” which is established by the Social Security Administration every year, but for most applicants that maximum benefit is theoretical rather than practicable. That’s because in order to achieve the maximum possible Social…
About Those Pesky Medicare Advantage TV Ads
If you watch TV at all, you’ve seen familiar faces touting how your healthcare life could be so much more wonderful if you’ll only “call the number on the screen.” A past football star, a fictional spaceship captain, and an…
Taxation of Social Security Benefits
As the saying goes, there are only two things which are definite, and one of those is taxes. And, unfortunately, retirement income – including your Social Security benefit – may very well become part of your income taxable by the…