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Lower inflation means lower COLA

2023 saw one of the highest Cost-of-living-adjustments increases since 1981. But will Social Security beneficiaries receive another significant increase in 2024? Although it is too early to calculate the 2024 COLA amount, Keith Speights suggests that retirees are better off…

Don’t wait until you’re 70 to take Social Security

Financial planners say to wait until 70 to file for your Social Security benefits. If you wait until age 70, your monthly payments will be 24 – 32 percent higher than the benefits you would have received at your full…

Social Security break-even calculation

Your Social Security break-even age can help you decide whether it is better to start collecting Social Security early or wait until later when you can receive a larger monthly payment. It is the point at which the value of…

How grey divorce affects women’s Social Security benefits.

According to the Pew Research Center, the divorce rate for those 50 and older has roughly doubled since 1990, far more than any other age group; research conducted by the Social Security Office of Retirement and Disability Policy; found “around…

Generation X: Time to Take a Long View Toward Retirement

For Generation Xers — those born between 1965 and 1980—their 60s might seem some distance off, but for many of them it really isn’t. That’s why the results of a recent survey of 2000 members of this demographic cohort by…

An “Ideal” Circumstance for Claiming Social Security Benefits at Age 62

It can be a torturous question, this issue of when to file for Social Security benefits. Sure, you’re aware of the reduction in monthly payments you’ll receive, and you’re aware of the persistent advice of financial “experts” that it’s best…

Social Security and Your Retirement Financial Plan–Assembling the Pieces

If you are beginning to take a look ay how your retirement years will be financed, congratulations! Many folks, unfortunately, do not take a long-term view on this subject and often find themselves arriving at key decision points unprepared to…

Claiming Social Security Benefits–What Time is the Right Time?

That’s one of those questions that typically gets a response of, “Well, it depends.” As frustrating as that may be, it does encapsulate the point that the answer does in fact depend on some significant variables. Deciding when to claim…

Candidate Pence on Social Security Reform

Former Vice President and 2024 presidential candidate Mike Pence, speaking in a recent CNN Iowa town hall, essentially disagreed with the stance voiced by Donald Trump and Joe Biden on Social Security reform, noting that making no changes is not…

Taxation of Social Security Benefits

As the old saying goes, only two things are certain, and one of them is taxes. Many new Social Security beneficiaries are surprised (and perplexed) to learn that their benefits are subject to income tax if their combined income from…

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