Latest News
How Your Social Security Benefit is Calculated: The Basics
To many folks, the manner in which the Social Security Administration determines the benefit they, or their dependents, are eligible to receive in retirement is a bit of a mystery. Actually, it’s not really that complex, as explained in a…
Explaining the Complexities of Divorce and Social Security
In a post today on creators.com, former Social Security Administration official Tom Margenau explores several complicated sections of Social Security’s rules and regulations associated with benefits for divorced spouses. After leading off with a basic premise (“With just a couple…
Social Security and the Complex World of U.S. Visas
As outlined in a post by Bloomberg Tax, certain types of visas for work in the U.S. provide exemptions for the FICA tax provision which, of course, provides funding for our country’s Social Security and Medicare programs. This comment in…
Social Security Vs. SSDI: Understanding the Difference
Although they are two separate programs operated under the Social Security Administration umbrella, many folks have questions about how they operate and interact. In a post today on finance.yahoo.com, columnist Josephine Nesbit outlining the scope and eligibility requirements for each.…
The Link Between the Claiming Decision and Survivor Benefits
For married couples, the need for a well-planned decision on when to file for Social Security benefits becomes very pronounced, especially when one of the partners is a much higher earner than the other. CNBC Personal Finance Reporter Lorie Konish,…
Survey Says: Yes, I can afford retirement.
The Employee Benefit Research Institute’s 2022 Retirement Confidence Survey, conducted in conjunction with Greenwald Research in January, revealed that “…over 7 in 10 workers are at least somewhatconfident, including almost 3 in 10 who are very confident…” in their ability…
Forget the Social Security Max
While we’re still on the Social Security Maximum Benefit subject (see yesterday’s “Latest News” post and one earlier today), The Motley Fool’s Maurie Backman offers another, more practical way to look at it…focus on what you can do. Ms. Backman…
Boosting Your Social Security Benefit
In a “Latest News” post yesterday on this site, we discussed the somewhat “mythical” maximum benefit amount available from Social Security. As you probably know, it’s a benefit level virtually unattainable for most retirees. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t…
How to Get the Mythical Maximum Social Security Benefit
According to a post today on fingerlakes1.com, getting the highest amount of monthly payment from Social Security would require that your work record shows earnings of “…$147,000 or its adjusted equivalent for inflation for 35 years.” Unfortunately, only a very…
Attention Millennials: Social Security Basics You Need to be Aware of!
Millennials–those born from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s and early 2000s–are, of course, still years away from focusing seriously on Social Security and its place in their retirement plans. But they shouldn’t discount the importance of thinking about the…