Latest News

What calculations go into determining your Social Security benefits?

Everyone gets a different monthly amount for Social Security, leading many to wonder, “Why do I get what I get?” Kailey Hagen explains in detail the Social Security benefits formula that is used to calculate your primary insurance amount. The…

Retirement is the ‘third half’ of life

Graham Webb and Isabelle Lebbe writing in FORBES state, “The idea of retirement as envisioned by our parents is undergoing a radical change. Once viewed as the last chapter before death, it has now morphed into an intermediate phase that…

Retiring Abroad? Beware the Drawbacks

Kailey Hagen notes three basic points in this piece about retiring outside this country. One, your tax situation will be more complicated if you retire abroad because you’ll likely owe taxes in two countries. Two, the Social Security Administration pays…

Increasing Social Security’s Full Retirement Age Could Hurt Today’s Workers

Maurie Backman notes there is increasing interest in increasing the full retirement age, now 67 for those born 1960 or later. That is not surprising, as that reform avoids the benefit cuts now or the tax increases now option. The…

Some People Don’t Have To Pay Social Security Taxes

It’s true. There are four groups of people that are not required to pay the either the 6.2% employer or 6.2% employee side Social Security payroll tax. Ashley Donohoe covers the groups in this piece. They are: 1. Eligible Student…

Should You Cash In Your Home’s Equity?

With Social Security replacing a mere 40% of pre-retirement income, a common question that comes up is whether homewoners should cash in some equity to make ends meet. John Wasik of FORBES address the question. Home values have soared,and if…

Fact check on raising the retirment age

Andre Byik writes in USA Today that Donald Trump’s Facebook ad (Feb 16-24) is FALSE on Nikki Haley’s plan to raise the retirement age. The key line from the narrator at issue is this: “Haley’s plan cuts Social Security benefits…

Social Security day of reckoning coming sooner than you think

Vawn Himmelsbach explains the predicament of Social Security insolvency here. How we got to the point of the coming 20% cuts in less than a decade is covered as well as where we can go from here. Some fixes are…

Be Careful About Retiring in Your 30s or 40s

While not that many can afford to or even want to do it, Kailey Hagen writes about retiring in your 30s or 40s. Retiring this young requires a plethora of savings, and many who pursue this wind up forgoing a…

Investing earlier can help avoid retirement worries later

Lorie Konish notes that workers who are about to retire are far behind where they should be. The shift from pensions to 401k plans has put workers in charge of their own retirements. Saving earlier is the key for younger…

Website by Geiger Computers