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SSA Making Improvements in Disability Wait Times
The Social Security Administration’s new SecurityStat program, described as a pathway to improve service by the Agency, is evidently producing decreases in wait time in various areas, including the processing of Disability Insurance (SSDI) appeals. SSA.gov reports, for example, that…
2024 Social Security Trustees Report–Accentuating the Positives
While the most recent Social Security Trustees Report to Congress reflects an additional year before the point of insolvency is reached, the fact remains that insolvency remains in the relatively near future for the program. This is the bad, and…
Social Security Reform: Where are the Plans?
Reason reporter Eric Boehm, in a post on their website, raises the concern that neither of the likely most likely next presidents has a plan to address the very real Social Security solvency problem. As Boehm points out, both candidates…
Forget About Next Year’s COLA…At Least, Until October
As happens in most years, media projections for next year’s Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) have been surfacing over the past few months. Many folks are aware, of course, that the projections are merely guesses during the early months of…
An Analysis of Claiming Ages and the Impact on Benefit Amounts
As most folks approaching the point of claiming Social Security benefits, the age at which you file makes a significant difference in the amount of that monthly payment. The Motley Fool’s Adam Levy illustrates this difference in a series of…
A Word of Caution Amid the Euphoria of a Slight Improvement
The media airwaves are awash in reports about the one-year setback in Secutiry’s point of insolvency. Good news? Yes, of course, but before we join in the giddiness, it’s important that we stay focused on the reality that the new…
Thoughts on Meeting Retirement’s Financial and Healthcare Challenges
Nobody said it would be easy, and the closer many soon-to-be retired folks get to the goal line, the larger the challenges seem to loom. With savings levels down and the estimates of wealth required to retire comfortably steadily drifting…
Retirement Savings Goal…A Moving Target
It wasn’t that long ago that the popular phrase went something like this, “I’ll need a million dollars to retire.” Well, that was then, this is now, and the mythical goal line for accumulated wealth is continuing to stretch. Now,…
Social Security Fundamentals for Married Couples
Spousal benefits and survivor benefits are two of the murkier aspects of Social Security. Not having a clear understanding of the eligibility rules accompanying these areas can cause married couples to miss out on benefits that have been written into…
Retirement Planning: Where do you get your advice?
Planning for a financially secure retirement is, for just about everybody, a daunting process. To be effective, it requires careful analysis, tough decisions, and appropriate consideration of advice from qualified sources. Emphasis on this last point is qualified and, as…