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Planning is Key to a Higher Social Security Check
There are some things in life over which you have no control, but fortunately the size of your Social Security benefit isn’t in that category. Reality is that you can exercise substantial control over how much your SS benefit will…
Be Prepared: You’ll Probably Never Get the Maximum Social Security Benefit
For 2022, the maximum Social Security benefit is $4,194, but the chances you’ll get that much are mighty slim. To do so, you would have to have earned at least the annual payroll tax cap for every year of your…
Does Working Increase My Social Security Benefit?
Most Americans who focus on retirement planning know that delaying Social Security until age 70 will yield the maximum monthly benefit amount. But, is that really the maximum? What if you claim Social Security at age 70 and you continue…
Restoring Social Security to Long Term Solvency
It seems that with every new Congress comes a crop of proposed legislation ostensibly meant to reform Social Security and improve its financial status (or, depending on your view, intended to pander to American seniors). Such is the case in…
About State Income Tax on Social Security Benefits
Although the title within this article is a bit misleading (implying that Social Security has different rules in 13 states), the article is nevertheless accurate in describing how State income tax can affect how much of your federal Social Security…
Social Security’s Payment Schedule
With so much hoopla about the big Cost of Living (COLA) increase coming in 2022, it’s important to not lose sight of how and when your Social Security benefits are paid. The COLA increase is applied to your December benefit…
Claiming Early Means a Smaller Social Security Check
Age 62 remains the most popular age at which Social Security benefits are claimed, but too often for the wrong reasons. Don’t misunderstand – there are some very good reasons why claiming Social Security before you reach your full retirement…
A Quick Primer on Survivor Benefits
In this article by Liz Weston appearing in The Oregonian, the author answers a question from a reader who lost her husband and doesn’t understand why she doesn’t now get a higher Social Security benefit as a surviving spouse. As…
A New Year Brings Changes to Social Security
As each new year approaches, Social Security announces the changes that will affect benefits in the coming year. Most people have already heard that a Cost of Living Adjustment of 5.9% – the highest in decades – will be applied…
Falling Birthrates and the Impact on Social Security
The long-term financial uncertainty faced by Social Security is becoming a well-known fact these days, with the most recent Trustees Report warning of a potential across-the-board cut in benefits in about a decade from now. In studying the problem, it…