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Understanding the Timing of Social Security Benefits
For seniors relying heavily on Social Security benefits to exist, the timing of their benefit arrival is of paramount concern. So, what happens if the payment doesn’t hit your account or arrive in your mailbox when you expect it? This…
Boosting the Value of Your Earned Social Security Benefit
Social Security, by design, is really only intended to supplement a portion of your pre-retirement income, so it’s important to ensure that you are taking steps along the way to make this benefit is as high as it can be.…
Social Security’s “Do Over” Option Explained, and Other Options
The U.S. labor market has been rattled in the past year and a half by the COVID-19 pandemic, and many folks elected to jump into Social Security benefits as a lifeline to survive. After making this move, though, they found…
Accuracy in Social Security Records is Crucial
Responsibility for ensuring that all of your earnings are correctly reported to the Social Security Administration (SSA) rests ultimately with you, the ultimate receiver of calculated benefits. For this reason, it is essential that you make the effort to verify…
Rethinking Your Retirement Savings Needs
Most investment articles you read will talk about how retirees should assume they’ll need about 80% of their pre-retirement income to live comfortably in their so-called golden years. Those same articles often suggest using the infamous “4% rule” when it…
Social Security Strategies for Married Couples
Finding an optimum Social Security claiming strategy is hard enough for a single person, but even more difficult for a married couple. Married partners are well advised to coordinate their individual claiming so as to maximize their benefits as a couple, not…
How Do Social Security and your 401(k) Fit Into Your Retirement Plan?
In this Yahoo! Finance article, author Rebecca Lake discusses how Social Security and your employer 401(k) plan can work together to help you achieve financial comfort during retirement. Most large employers offer a 401(k) tax-deferred savings program, and many employers match employee contributions at least…
Understanding the Medicare Late Enrollment Penalty
If you don’t enroll in Medicare when you first become eligible at age 65, you may end up paying a Late Enrollment Penalty, which will raise your Medicare premium for the rest of your life. That penalty can apply to…
Understanding the Social Security “Disability Freeze”
Although the title of this article is misleading using the word “Jelly,” what it is actually about is a Social Security rule known as the “Disability Freeze.” For those who collect SS Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits for a time and later return to…
Do Higher Earnings Mean a Higher Social Security Benefit?
Well, the obvious answer is “yes,” but there are also some limitations. First of all, only those earnings under the annual Social Security “wage base” count for purposes of calculating your SS benefit. Second, high earnings for only a few years…