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Early Thoughts About 2024 COLA
COLA – the annual Cost of Living Adjustment given to those collecting Social Security – is a mysteriously calculated percentage based upon year-to-year changes to a specific government index known as the “Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and…
Can I Get Social Security Disability While Living Abroad?
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits are payments provided to American workers who become disabled and are no longer able to perform “substantial gainful activity.” As you may have heard, getting approved for SSDI is a fairly lengthy process (unless…
Is Claiming Social Security at 62 a Mistake?
Age 62 is, indeed, the most popular age to collect Social Security. In fact, according to the agency about 35% of men and about 40% of women claim benefits as soon as they are eligible at age 62. But it…
Scary Statistics: Most Seniors Have Little Knowledge about Social Security
It’s said that “knowledge is power” but, according to a recent study, knowledge about Social Security by those soon to be eligible for it is substantially lacking. That translates to a lot of bad claiming decisions being made and a…
Ready To Retire? Ask Yourself These Questions
If you feel that 2023 could be the year you will join the ranks of retired Americans, you likely know that Social Security will play a somewhat important role in your financial future. However, a majority of those contemplating retirement…
Changes Coming for Social Security & Medicare
No matter how much politicians vow never to cut Social Security or Medicare, changes to both programs are inevitable in the not too distant future. It’s either reform these programs, or preside over dramatic automatic reductions in benefits for both…
AI and Retirement Planning: An Assessment
In an article by MarketWatch reporter Andrew Shilling, the ability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to provide assistance–free–to someone researching retirement questions is put to the test. With a basic question–“How much should I have saved for retirement?” posed to…
Social Security Basics…Some Things You Need to Know!
On the surface, Social Security seems somewhat simple…you work and pay FICA tax, then you draw benefits when you retire. But as anyone who has navigated these waters can probably tell you, it’s not that clear-cut. In fact, there are…
Retirement Savings Plans–Automatic Enrollment Favored
Passage of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 last December appears to have ushered in a new wave of interest in automatic enrollment in employer-sponsored retirement savings plans, according to the 10th annual American Century® Retirement Study. As noted in a…
Understanding Medicare and Medicare Advantage
Seniors approaching–or, already at–Medicare eligibility are often bombarded by ads, promotions, “advice,” and general conversation about the differences between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans. It happens every year at Annual Enrollment time, causing many senors to wonder what their…