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How to navigate Social Security’s highways and byways
Social Security’s main highways are the basic benefits for worker and spouse. Most people take the earliest on-ramp at 62, but you’ll get more a month — and possibly more total lifetime payout — by waiting until full retirement age…
Increasing Social Security retirement age could bridge income gap
The age to receive full Social Security benefits should be closer to 70, according to a report published in the journal Daedalus. “We’re living longer and healthier than ever before, but the statutory age of retirement for receiving Social Security benefits…
Time to cleanup old social security data
A recent Social Security inspector general report showed that 6.5 million people in the U.S. may have reached age 112. In reality, there are only about 42 people known to be that old in the entire world. Of the 6.5…
What states’ residents pay the highest taxes?
You may have already sent off your 2014 paperwork to the IRS, enclosed a check or requested a refund, and crossed taxes off your to-do list for the year. But you’re not done yet. You’ll still have to work until April…
Raising Social Security retirement to 70 makes sense but penalizes the disadvantaged
Adjustments to the retirement age have not kept up with increases in life expectancy or healthy lifespan. The age to receive full Social Security benefits should be closer to 70, according to a report published in the journal Daedalus. But,…
Why converting 401(k) to annuities requires new mindset
Are we hard-wired to shun certain retirement investments? Some new research suggests so, and that has implications as the government gives the green light to annuities in 401(k)s and IRAs. In a research brief for the Center for Retirement Research at Boston…
According to This Study, These Are the 5 Worst States to Retire In
Although everyone may walk a different path, ultimately the end goal for practically all of us is to retire comfortably, and on our own terms. Of course, retiring comfortably and on a preset schedule is a lot easier to talk about…
Social Security disability fund will run empty next year
There is widespread confusion about the coming insolvency of the Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund. Regrettably, some use this confusion to avoid taking the necessary steps to reform this critically vital program and instead are only looking to place a…
It’s never too early to plan for retirement
A standard model for retirement planning — a 4 percent annual withdrawal rate over 30 years — is almost two decades old. Retirement planners based their research on stock and bond returns that occurred during the 1920s through 1960s. When…
Politicians shift money just like Wall Street
Two people talking: “Hey, do you know how much the federal debt is today?” “No, and I don’t care.” “What about the $280 billion payout? Is that a payment on the debt or an interest payment?” “I don’t know, and either way it doesn’t…