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Average Gen X-er Does Not Have Enough Saved for Retirement
Generation X are those born between 1965 and 1980, and that cohort is approaching retirement. Kaili Killpack’s piece here uses recent data from Fidelity, which found the financial outlook for the average Gen Xer is concerning. Fidelity reports the average…
Retirement Income Sources to Supplement Social Security in 2025
To state that Social Security alone was never meant to be lived on is an understatement, though many do not get that message in time. Kailey Hagen notes four sources of income that one could call on to add to…
The 2025 COLA Could Be a Double-Edged Sword for Retirees
Sean Williams explains that the consensus forecast for the upcoming announcement of Social Security’s 2025 cost of living adjustment (COLA) is shaping up to be about 2.5%. This reflects lower inflation over the past year. Slowing inflation helps nearly all,…
Claiming Benefits Early…Not Always a Bad Move
Most financial counselors will advise clients to defer filing for Social Security benefits as long as possible, but at least until reaching full retirement age. This strategy will ensure that your monthly benefits payment will avoid the reduction accompanying the…
Explaining the Intracacies of Medicare Filing in a Disability Situation
Medicare is complex. Disability is complex. Consequently, intersecting the two can be fairly complicated. Toni King, author and columnist on Medicare and health insurance issues and leader of the “Toni Says” team, offers insights in how best to navigate the…
Social Security’s Lump Sum Death Benefit (LSDB)
Current Social Security rules allow for a one-time death benefit ($255) to be paid to a decedent’s spouse, minor children living in the same home, or a child who has developed a disability at age 21 or younger. If the…
SSA Issues Alert for “Long-Con” Scams
Fraud situations involving Social Security beneficiaries in the past have generally focused on simple telephone contacts. It seems these days that a new more elabortate kind of scam is hitting the airwaves, and their labeled “long-con” portions. As explained in…
Rumor Clean-Up Time: Illegal Immigrants and Social Security
Without question, the issue of immigration is foremost on the minds of many Americans these days. The 2024 presidential election cycle consistently creates commentary about the state of our immigration system, the policies associated with it, and the financial impacts…
Recapping the Key Social Seurity Changes from 2024
To many, Social Security seems like a stable monolith, something that’s just always there and never changing. But that’s not the case at all. Anyone familiar with Social Security in any depth will tell you about the many, many moving…
2024 Election Cycle Alert: Likely Harris Moves that Could Affect Social Security & Retirement
The keyword is “could” because most of what’s been said about Candidate Harris so far lacks specific content. But, based on comments delivered in various forums, it appears that a Harris presidency pledges to focus on saving Social Security via…