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Not Knowing Social Security Fundamentals Can Hurt You!
Social Security is complex. Yes, that’s an understatement, and that’s why the AMAC Foundation’s Social Security Advisory Service was established almost seven years ago. We regularly provide service to a public desperate to understand Social Security’s rules and how they…
Thoughts on the Popular Question of When to File for Benefits
It’s one of the most frequently handled questions fielded at the AMAC Foundation Social Security Advisory Service…When should I file for my Social Security monthly benefits? We typically begin our discussion in response to this question with the phrase “It…
A preliminary estimate on the 2023 COLA
The official Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for 2023 will not be released until October; early estimates are predicting even higher than 2022. The Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers, also known as CPI-U, has reached a new 40-year…
What is the retirement earnings test is and how it works
MassMutual, an insurance and financial services company, found in their recent survey that nearly 52 percent of people failed or barely passed a 12-question survey regarding Social Security. A commonly misunderstood concept about Social Security was the earnings test: “If…
Don’t put off Social Security until you’ve really thought things through
Starting your Social Security retirement benefits is a major step in the next phase of your life. You can begin your retirement benefits as early as age 62 or as late as age 70. If you choose to start receiving…
A quick overview of benefits that women, in particular, should not overlook
Social Security is neutral concerning gender – individuals with identical earnings histories are treated the same in terms of benefits. However, generally speaking, women receive lower pension benefits due to their relatively lower earnings, and a higher share of part-time…
Should you stop worrying about Social Security?
A recent survey from financial services company Nationwide found that 71 percent of adults felt that Social Security would run out of money in their lifetimes. The fear is understandable, with the last official projection by the Social Security Administration…
Bipartisan Retirement Bill Moving Through Process
Laura Weiss of Roll Call gives a synopsis of a retirement bill that seems likely to become law this year. She notes that legislation of this nature has a history of broad bipartisan backing, as long as Social Security remains…
Time is too Short to Pander on Social Security’s Problems
Each Congress sees the spectacle of Social Security bills being introduced, mostly by Democrats, promising higher benefits, whether in the form of cost of living adjustments, one-time payments, or permanent minimum benefit increases. The problem with nearly all, which are…
What’s the Social Security Bridge Strategy?
I confess I hadn’t heard the term “bridge strategy” before today and thus was intrigued by this on-line piece. The term describes the practice where, instead of collecting Social Security before your full retirement age (FRA) or later, the person…