Headlines
Ever wonder why a Social Security check is the amount it is?
People have been warned for years never to discuss what they paid for their airline ticket with the passenger next to them. Those differences in ticket prices are often a strange combination of the day or even hour of the…
How Much Do You Rely on Social Security?
As most of us know, Social Security was never designed to be a senior’s sole source of retirement income. Indeed, the program is intentionally crafted to provide only about 40% of a retiree’s pre-retirement earnings, with the remainder made up…
Social Security: Facing Insolvency, but Fixable
It has been extensively reported that America’s premier retirement program, Social Security, is facing some serious solvency issues in the not-too-distant future. Reforming the program grows more urgent every day, a point apparently lost on members of current and recent…
Could the Next COLA Be Even Higher?
Most seniors gleefully celebrated the announcement last fall that their 2022 Social Security benefit would see an increase of 5.9% from a Cost of Living Adjustment. That celebration, however, was quite short-lived as reality set in – the COLA increase…
The Case for Claiming Social Security Early
Generally speaking, there are two schools of thought about when one should claim their Social Security benefits. Many, if not most, financial advisors will suggest that waiting longer – at least until your full retirement age and possibly until age…
What Will My Social Security Payment Be?
Well, finding out how much your Social Security payment will be is relatively easy – simply look at the annual statement you get from the agency or get a Statement of Estimated Benefits, which you can do at your “my…
Immigration and Social Security: Some Thoughts
As most folks who read the posts on this site are keenly aware, Social Security is facing a long-term solvency problem. Simply put, the system is operating in deficit mode, paying out in benefits more than it’s taking in through…
Another Call for Attention to the Social Security Solvency Problem
There have been many, and here’s yet another one calling for Congress to give serious attention to correcting the longstanding solvency crisis ahead for Social Security. This most recent expression of concern, from the Mid Desert Islander (Maine), echoes what…
The Impact of Inflation on Social Security’s Fiscal Health
It’s a double-edged sword in many respects. While inflation drives the program’s annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) and therefore increases the program’s outflow, the steadily increases in the FICA tax wage base compensates with additional tax revenue. This point–characterized by the…
An Examination of the WEP/GPO Elimination Dilemma
One of the issues that surfaces repeatedly in Congress is the potential elimination of Social Security’s Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) rules, and the 117th Congress is currently examining H.R. 82 with this as its…