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Another Vote for Delayed Benefit Claiming
Claim Social Security at age 62, wait until full retirement age (FRA), or hold off until age 70 and take advantage of delayed retirement credit. You’ve seen and heard the arguments for all three of these strategies, and there are…
A Quick Look at Some Social Security Misconceptions
Many folks aging into Social Security eligibility, as well as many younger folks just beginning to think about their retirement years, have heard a few things about the program. Unfortunately, many of the things they’ve heard may not be accurate.…
Earning the Maximum Social Security Retirement Benefit
For 2026, the highest possible monthly retirement benefit available will be $5,251 after application of the annual cost-of-living adjustment. Sounds like a lot, of course, and many folks wonder how to go about setting themselves up to collect that size…
Retirement Earnings Test Increase for 2026
Many Social Security benefit recipients who have not yet reached their full retirement age (FRA) but continue working are aware (or should be) of the Retirement Earnings Test, which limits the amount of income they can earn before benefits are…
Retirement Readiness and Financial Preparedness Can be Two Different Measures
Many U.S. adults approaching retirement express confidence in their ability to deal with living costs in their later years. An overwhelming majority–89 percent–of responses to a global survey by Prudential said so, yet just slightly more than half said they’d…
How Years Out of the Workforce Impact Benefits
Future retirees who, for one reason or another, have stepped away from the taxpaying workforce for extended periods need to be aware of the process for calculating their eventual Social Security benefits. Although often viewed as a bit arcane, this…
SSA Service Improvements Reported, but Questioned
The Social Security Administration (SSA) continues to respond to recent staffing and administrative changes and has indicated substantial improvements in handling incoming telephone calls and in reducing disability backlogs. All of that, of course, is good news for seniors who…
A Reflection on the 2026 COLA
The recent announcement of a 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security benefits has been widely panned as inadequate given the economic environment seniors face. Sure, it’s more than last year’s 2.5 percent, but many pundits note that the…
“It’s your job to educate yourself…”
Former Social Security Administration director of public information Tom Margenau, a 32-year veteran of various positions in the agency, has a direct style when answering questions — and complaints — about agency services. In media vernacular, he tells it like…
The Medicare Premium Impact of COLA
In all the hoopla surrounding last week’s announcement of the 2026 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, many media accounts gloss over the effect of Medicare’s premium increase. And it’s a big effect, since it amounts to an 11.6 percent increase in…