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Underscored: The Importance of Understanding Claiming Strategies
In situations where married couples have a disparity in their ages and, therefore, in their strategy options for claiming Social Security benefits, it becomes critical to know the rules. ThinkAdvisor reporter John Manganaro offers a quick recap of a situation…
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Rule Changes Explained
Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley recently announced changes to SSI eligibility rules scheduled to take effect September 30, 2024. The rule change makes several eligibility changes, including expansion of the “households” definition and removal of barriers preventing acquisition of benefits…
Attitudes Toward Retirement Are Shifting
It seems the thought of picking a retirement date and walking away is a thing of the past. The 2024 Annual Retirement Study from Allianz Life seems to support this attitude change, with nearly half of survey participants indicating an…
Ways to Jeopardize Your Social Security Benefits
A steady flow of monthly income via Social Security is something claimants certainly look forward to. After all, the program has been around for over eighty years and has never missed a scheduled payment. While that consistency is certainly a…
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…