Latest News
Social Security must be protected
Today, Americans everywhere can celebrate 78 years of Social Security. When the Social Security Act was signed into law in 1935, almost half of all older Americans lived in poverty. At first, Social Security was just a retirement program. Today, it…
Column: Social Security more important now than ever
Half of Americans have less than $10,000 in savings, and only 14 percent are very confident they will have enough money for a comfortable retirement according to a study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Our nation’s retirement system has been…
You Know Where to Find Us (Because We Make It Easy)
If you’ve read anything about Social Security in recent years, then you probably know that our most convenient office location is wherever you happen to be—thanks to www.socialsecurity.gov. Whether you’re on your home or office computer, or at the park or…
What Boomer Divorcees Need to Know About Social Security
At 6:35p ET to begin each work week, I have my Money Monday segment to focus on an aspect of your finances. Independent retirement advisor Gary Marriage, Jr joined me and said too many people end up getting less than what’s due them from Social…
What If Mom and Dad Outlive Their Money?
My wife and I recently took my healthy, active and still working 76-year-old parents on a wine-tasting and hiking trip. It was a fun trip, during which we had many great discussions over fine wine and food. It was during…
Social Security needs a leader
When historians write about this period in American history, a single word will sum it up: obstructionism. Delays in enacting the Affordable Care Act, drafting tax reform legislation, fixing the U.S. Postal Service and confirming judges and agency heads all can…
How to ease the pain of dealing with Social Security
At a retirement planning seminar I was leading recently, a few people groused about the difficulty of dealing with Social Security offices. There were a lot of nodding heads in the audience, although it’s hard to tell if their agreement…
Tax Tip: How Social Security and Railroad Retirement Is Taxed
All too often during the tax filing season my explanatory memo to clients includes the following statement: “Because of the way Social Security benefits are taxed, for every additional dollar you receive, you are taxed on $1.85!” The amount of Social…
Reflecting on 78 Years of Social Security
There are special moments when people look back and evaluate a life or an era: birthdays, class reunions, holidays, anniversaries. Time is, after all, simply the stringing together of a number of events, some small, others significant. These events can…
Roger Hedgecock: The nuclear debt bomb
Detroit is in bankruptcy, the dwindling tax base unable to provide basic city services and still make payments on a $20 billion debt. That’s twenty thousand million dollars of debt. Voices in Detroit clamor for a federal bailout. What’s good enough…