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Don’t rush to collect Social Security benefits
Social Security benefits are an essential part of most people’s comprehensive financial plan to fund retirement. One common misconception is a belief that the staff at the Social Security Administration will help you determine the best-possible financial strategy for you and…
How to Reform Social Security Disability So Program Focuses on Needs of Disabled Americans
….In order to address the Disability Insurance funding shortfall, Congress should reform the current program. Because of congressional delay, program savings implemented in 2016 likely won’t suffice to ward off indiscriminate benefit cuts scheduled under current law. Congress could grant…
Loss of DB Plans Making Social Security Disability More Critical
The near total disappearance of employer-sponsored defined benefit plans is making Social Security Disability Insurance more vital to Americans, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare lobbyist Webster Phillips told Congress Wednesday. In explaining how critical disability payments have become,…
Spending Too Much Time Reading POMS: 10 Social Security Rules That Are Insane
Laurence Kotlikoff has a list of 10 Social Security Rules That Are Insane, excerpts from Social Security’s Program Operations Manual Series (POMS): “Even if we caused the (benefits) overpayment, you must show that you are without fault.” Cash benefits for disabled…
As House Ways and Means Committee Holds Hearing Targeting Social Security Disability Insurance, Brown Renews Push to Protect Social Security From Harmful Cuts
As the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee convenes a hearing targeting Social Security, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) – ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee’s Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions and Family Policy – today reinforced…
Keeping the Social Security Promise
Nebraskans work hard each day to provide for their families. For generations, Americans have paid taxes into Social Security with the expectation the program will be there if they need it when they get older. Without reform, the Social Security Trust…
Social Security Judges Allowance Rates Are Falling
Recent reports by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, examined decisions issued by Social Security Judges with high dispositions and high allowance rates and also those with low allowance rates. These reports have provided the media and Congress…
Eight Reasons We Shouldn’t Raise the Cap on Social Security Taxes
The Center for American Progress has a new study arguing for raising the maximum earnings on which workers pay Social Security taxes. The limit is currently $118,500, and raising it would garner some substantial revenue to shore up Social Security. But there…
Social Security Disability Video Hearings Set to Grow to Nearly 1 in 3 in 2015, Allsup Reports
Many people who apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits often wonder if they should agree to a video hearing with an administrative law judge (ALJ), according to Allsup, the nation’s premier disability representation company. People seeking their SSDI benefits…
Aging With Care: Tax Season and Social Security
It’s tax season again. Seniors face some tax issues related to their age. First, many seniors are working beyond traditional retirement age while also collecting Social Security. It’s easy to forget that Social Security benefits are taxable income (based on income…