Latest News
Dead or alive? The government isn’t quite sure sometimes
It’s no joke to find out the government thinks you’re dead. Try to take money out of your bank or try to get a loan. You can’t if a misheard phone conversation or an errant key stroke put you on…
4 Important Tax Tips To Help Seniors With Filing This Year
Tax time can be a stressful part of the year for anyone, but seniors may be feeling the pressure more than others. Constant changes to the U.S. tax code, keeping on top of exemptions and credits, and the changes to…
The Social Security Maze And Other U.S. Mysteries
In recent years, the Boston University economist Laurence J. Kotlikoff has made something of a game — and then, eventually, an art — of cornering smart people and convincing them that they were leaving tens of thousands of Social Security…
Sanders Files Bill to Strengthen, Expand Social Security
As boxes of petitions signed by 2 million Americans were hauled into the Capitol today, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced legislation to expand benefits and strengthen the retirement program for generations to come. The Social Security Expansion Act was filed on…
The Road To A Tax-Free Retirement
Am I paying too much in taxes? Can I afford to retire? These are the questions Joe Franklin, a certified financial planner in Hixson, Tennessee, hears every day. One of his favorite solutions for clients in their 50s and 60s…
How Your Social Security Benefit Is Calculated
If you’ve checked your annual Social Security statement lately, you probably know the size of the benefit you’re projected to receive in retirement. But do you know how that number is calculated? Social Security determines your initial benefit at full retirement…
The Federal Budget: When a Number is Just a (Meaningless) Number
Accounting is dull by nature, and the only thing that makes the craft less appealing is when it deals with the finances of government. I will do my best to make it interesting because the way our country accounts for…
Spring into a stress-free retirement
As we say “goodbye” to winter weather hardships and “hello” to gardens budding with vibrant color, we welcome the season by celebrating Stress Awareness Month. Did you know that stress, also called the “silent killer,” could cause heart disease and high…
All Women, Including LGBT Women, Need Economic Security and Equal Opportunity Now
Low wages, unequal pay, lack of access to paid leave and affordable child care, unpredictable and inflexible schedules, workplace discrimination and harassment — these issues and more face all low-wage and low-income women in the workforce. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and…
Disability Beneficiaries Exceed 10.9 Million 2 Straight Years
The number of disability beneficiaries has exceeded 10,900,000 for two straight years, according to data from the Social Security Administration (SSA). The number of beneficiaries first exceeded 10.9 million in February 2013 and has remained above that level for 25 months…