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Fundamental Changes to Retirement Planning by the Creator of the Popular “4%” Rule
Most of us who plan for retirement have heard of the “4% rule” – that is, if you limit your withdrawals to 4% of your investment portfolio annually, it should last you a lifetime (that’s a simplified description, but fairly…
Social Security changes this fall: COLA and others
Of course, the most anticipated Social Security change everyone looks for in October of each year is the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for the forthcoming year. And the 2027 COLA will be announce by SSA on October 14th. However,…
The “Promise Act” and Social Security’s Full Retirement Age
For a long time, there has been a debate among pundits and within political parties about raising Social Security’s full retirement age (FRA), which is the age at which 100% of earned benefits are paid. Generally speaking, those on the…
National Institute on Retirement Security Survey Points to Growing Concerns
“80% of Americans now say the country faces a retirement crisis,” according to the findings from the most recent NIRS survey. Perhaps even more striking in these findings is the conclusion that “61% of respondents are concerned they will not achieve financial…
Social Security in 2027–A Look Ahead to Changes
In reality, not much is changing, other than the usual items like the cost-of-living adjustment, the taxable maximum, and the parameters associated with the retirement earnings test. A recent post on finance.yahoo.com by Senior Writer Hal Bundrick, CFP recaps the…
Dealing With Overpayment Notices
A Newsweek.com article by reporter Suzanne Blake, published yesterday, examines the predicament faced by many Social Security recipients, namely, the issue of Overpayment Notices. Citing the issuance of approximately 2 million notices annually to Social Security recipients, Ms. Blake describes…
Understanding Social Security’s “First-Year” Rule
Anyone planning to claim benefits before their full retirement age (FRA) needs to be aware of a nuance of Social Security that changes the flat annual earnings allowance before benefit reductions. The rule, called the “special monthly earnings limit rule,”…
Peterson Foundation Weighs In on National Debt Escalation
Calling Social Security one of the “fastest-growing drivers of the annual U.S. budget deficit,” Peter G. Peterson Foundation CEO Michael A. Peterson argued in a Fox Business post yesterday for Congress to “…get at it” and solve the impending insolvency and…
An Expert Weighs In on Insolvency: “I’d like to scare Congress!”
We’ve noted many times in recent months that the rhetoric about Social Security’s insolvency predicament is rapidly ramping up, and more and more financial pundits are offering conjecture on the likelihood of a solution to avoid the projected benefit cuts,…
Working while collecting benefits…here are the rules.
Continuing to work after claiming Social Security benefits is a growing trend, either one of necessity or one of preference. Either way, the Center for Retirement Research has reported that more than 40% of Social Security benefit recipients fall into…