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A Pessimistic View of Social Security’s Long Term Viability
As many of our readers are aware, we’ve commented repeatedly through the years on the need for legislative action to resolve the Social Security program’s impending solvency crisis, often citing various proposals for Congress to consider and even, occasionally, suggesting…
Clearing Up the Confusion on Taxability of Stimulus Payments
As tax season presses on, many seniors have held their breath on whether or not last year’s stimulus payments will affect the calculation of their modified adjusted gross income for federal tax purposes. Fortunately, the answer is that these payments…
A Reality Check for Future Social Security Beneficiaries
As you probably know, the long-term future of Social Security is in some jeopardy due to the much-talked-about solvency crisis. But for the moment, let’s put that aside and consider a different type of hypothesis…one in which you reach the…
Attention: Married Couples Planning for Social Security…Here are Some Thoughts to Consider
There are quite a few ways to approach Social Security benefits, and for married couples, there are some specific options that need to be considered to ensure that benefits are being arranged strategically for maximum effectiveness. The Motley Fool’s Maurie…
A perspective on Social Security’s future
In a particularly contemplative piece, journalist Tom Purcell offers thoughts on the future of Social Security in the face of the impending solfuturevency crisis and the persistent viewpoints regarding the assessment of FICA taxes. Purcell’s comments also offer thoughts on…
Applying for Benefits at 62? Here are two key rules you need to understand.
As we’ve said many times, age 62 is the most popular age for folks to begin their Social Security benefits. This remains true even though monthly benefits are substantially discounted from full retirement age benefits–a discounting that is permanent for…
Careful planning can help you avoid falling into a retirement disaster
Here’s a frightening statistic from the 2020 Retirement Confidence Survey: “About one in four American workers have less than $10,000 stowed away for retirement.” As a consequence, it’s likely that many of these future retirees are destined to have a…
Retirement thoughts…looking beyond the numbers
So much of what we read in financial media about retirement planning and the future of programs like Social Security and Medicare focuses on dollars and cents. Of course, that’s a critical element of assessing the adequacy of one’s preparation…
Something to Consider in Strategizing on Taxation of Social Security Benefits
Conventional financial planning wisdom presents a number of viewpoints on the use of municipal bonds as a pathway to lowering the tax burden on your retirement income limit. While that may generally be a decent strategy to consider, there are…
Understanding the rules can help you get what you’re entitled to.
That Social Security is complex is certainly no surprise to anyone who’s take a look at it, and certainly not to hose who have joined the ranks of beneficiaries. That’s why it’s important–make that essential–that folks aging in to the…