Latest News
A 6% Social Security COLA Could Be a Double-Edged Sword
Josephine Nesbit of Yahoo Finance suggests not getting too giddy about a possible 6.2% increase in Social Security benefits in just over four months. Medicare premiums will also be going up, eating into any increase. And as Patrick Hubbard, research associate…
WARNING: Social Security insolvency coming in just eight years!
Brett Arends of MarketWatch has an op-ed that suggests the insolvency date for Social Security is barreling toward us sooner than expected. The official report from the Trustees is late this year but is due out within weeks. Arends cites one…
Boomers are Retiring. Have They Saved Enough?
Living on Social Security alone is a tough slog, as the program replaces a mere 40% of preretirement income. Maurie Backman explains that following the well known 4% rule and starting with $202k is still likely not good enough. That total…
Social Security Basics: What You Need To Know In 2021
David Rae of Forbes has a piece here that covers all the essentials for Social Security, which as he puts it is often people’s largest retirement asset. These topics are given some detail in the piece: Marital Status Could Impact Your…
Delay taking Social Security until age 70? No thanks says author.
While the consensus view is wait as long as possible, even to age 70, to start Social Security benefits, Juan Fourneau of MarketWatch proudly advocates for the contrarian view. He notes he never got to meet his grandparents because they died…
Pandemic Speeds up Retirement for Many
According to The New School’s Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis, nearly 2 million more people than expected have joined the ranks of the retired in the Covid-19 pandemic. Andrea Hsu of NPR profiles two workers in this piece. Hsu notes…
Relying too heavily on Social Security could come back to haunt you
Maurie Backman stresses that amassing a large savings account is the best way to stave off financial difficulty in retirement. She provides detail on these three harsh realities of the program: 1. Those benefits won’t come close to replacing your former…
Investing, 401k plans, company matches, and more
With Social Security replacing a mere 40% of pre-retirement earnings, retirement income simply must come from someplace else. But where? The 3-6 month emergency savings rule is well known, but what about 401k plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs)? Elizabeth…
Boost Your Social Security Checks by 5-8% in 12 Months
A $1,500 monthly Social Security benefit at 62, would be $2,657 per month by delaying benefits until 70, if your full retirement age is 67. That’s over $1,000 more per check. Kailey Hagen stresses the importance of delaying your initial claim date…
What Happens to Social Security When You Die?
Vance Cariaga of Yahoo Finance provides quite a bit of interesting insight to the question about benefits after one dies. After a death the funeral home usually sends in a form to the Social Security Administration (SSA) called Statement of Death…