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A Look Ahead at the Future of Social Security COLAs
With the Federal Reserve’s progress toward reigning in the inflationary spiral of the past few years, coupled with its 2% long-term target for inflation, the 2025 cost-of-living adjustment is likely to be well below the average of the past three…
Trump’s Plan to Eliminate Federal Income Tax on Social Security Benefits Rings Big With Many
Despite its impact on Social Security’s precarious financial position, Presidential candidate Donald Trump struck a positive chord with Wall Street Journal poll participants with this idea. 83% of those polled favored the move–a tax that impacts about half of all…
Highlighting Legislative Inertia on Social Security Reform
The term “inertia” refers to the natural tendency for objects at rest to remain at rest. Thinking about Social Security reform as an “object,” then, implies that action on corrective measures to ward off the catastrophe projected to hit beneficiaries…
Social Security’s Reduced COLA outlook–Thoughts on the “Pro” Side
Most people know that the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) applied to benefits in January has been higher than the program’s historical increase for the past three years, averaging just under 6%. Most people also know that projections for the 2025…
Social Security Reform–A Call for Congressional Action
That’s not a new call, actually. The Social Security trustees have been making that plea for decades via comments accompanying their annual reports to Congress. For example, these comments were outlined in the summary of the 2024 edition: “Lawmakers have…
COLA Watch – How the 2025 Adjustment is Shaping Up
We’re in the closing stages of the calculation window to determine next year’s Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), and many seniors are looking forward to the final announcement in October. In the run-up to that point, there has been steady…
2024 Election Campaign – Trump Comments from North Carolina
Speaking at a campaign rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, former President Donald Trump delivered remarks focused on the key issues taking center stage in this election cycle. He covered several tax issues, including the “no tax on tips” pledge, the…
Exploring the Reality of IRMAA in Light of a Real-life Situation
Medicare’s income-related monthly adjusted amount (IRMAA) regulation can, and often does, catch seniors in specific situations unaware. LA Times columnist Liz Weston, a Certified Financial Planner, offers an explanation of how this regulation impacts beneficiaries taking a large one-time withdrawal from…
A Quick Recap of the Social Security Insolvency Probem
In case you’re just getting to know Social Security’s much-discussed financial woes, an article posted recently by Kotys Wealth Professionals on valpolife.com will give you a quick update. It’s sort of like the “elephant in the room” puzzle when it…
Annual Notice of Change is arriving soon
It’s that time of year again when all those Medicare ads flood your mailbox. But before you throw out all that mail, there is one you should keep and read. It is your Annual Notice of Change or ANOC. Why?…