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Lower COLA for 2024. Why?
Seniors on Social Security look forward to and depend on getting a little boost each January. It’s called the cost of living adjustment (COLA). It’s not a raise, as the boost just allows one to keep pace with prices that…
Prepare Now for Social Security Cuts
Forewarned is forearmed. Katie Brockman explains that automatic cuts are coming to Social Security in a decade or less unless Congress reforms the program, though even any reform would likely involve cuts of some kind. What to do then? Brockman…
Four Key Points About Social Security
Barbara Eisner Bayer explains the lifeline and certainty that Social Security provides, yet acknowledges there are at least four key facts many people do not know before starting their benefits. They are: 1.) Your monthly amount isn’t permanent, as cost…
Score a Bigger Social Security Check
Lots of people hawk articles or books for sale with tips to boost your Social Security checks. But the real secret sauce is just to wait. That’s right– wait. Each month you delay starting beyond age 62 means a higher…
COLA Watch: Expect less but there’s a silver lining
It’s fashionable among those who write about Social Security to speculate what the next cost of living adjustment (COLA) will be for recipients, even though the figure will not be known and released until mid October 2023. Maurie Backman says…
Retire on Less Money by Claiming Social Security Early
More workers seem to be employing the strategy of “take the money and run,” according to Brian O’Connor in this piece, even though it’s potentially tens or hundreds of thousands less over a lifetime. He cites a 2022 survey by…
Social Security Filing Age Matters – A Lot
The secrets to a higher Social Security benefit are not secrets at all. It’s just few know or care to pay attention to what experts consistently say. Delay benefits as long as you can is what most state unequivocally to…
Social Security Benefit Cuts on the Table Again
It’s something no politician truly wants to really say out loud nor any voter actually hear in their ear, but the truth is Social Security is unsustainable as currently constituted. As such, benefit cuts must be considered by Congress. Of…
How is Social Security taxed
If you feel inflation has eroded your Social Security benefits, you are not mistaken, but that is not the only reason. Although the government will regularly adjust many things for inflation, one thing they have not since 1984; is the…
Important milestones to remember while retirement planning
There is no strict retirement age in the United States; however, there is one to begin collecting your Social Security benefits. You can start your Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62; however, you are entitled to full…