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Avoid costing yourself $456 in monthly Soc Sec benefits
It’s actually a familiar refrain in most articles on Social Security. Wait! That is, wait as long as you can but at least until full retirement age to get full benefits (age 66-67). Full benefits are NOT paid at age…
5 Ways You Can Cost Yourself Social Security Benefits
Kailey Hagen notes here that you may not be the only one interested in your Social Security benefits. The government, scammers, and debt collectors are among those who would love to get their hands on as much of your benefits as they…
Will Rx Drug Costs Eat Up 20% of Your Social Security Benefits?
It’s possible. Christy Bieber’s article here reports data from the Senior Citizens League showing out-of-pocket costs seniors paid for prescription drugs came in at an average of $3,875 per year in 2019. For those receiving the average Social Security benefit of $1,519 for retired…
A Downside to Claiming Social Security at 70?
More seniors sign up for Social Security benefits at age 62 than at any other. Experts would agree that is too bad, because potentially tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars might be left on the table — and…
Social Security to pay an extra $20 a month on average in 2021
Twenty bucks is what the average Social Security recipient currently making $1,523 per month will get added to his/her check starting January 1, 2021. Medicare Part B premium increases will likely eat up about 50% of that increase, though the…
The most important Social Security table you’ll ever see
If only folks could know they could get 120% or more of their regular Social Security benefit. But they’d have to wait until age 70 to get that. What if folks knew they were actually being penalized or punished for taking…
Women Less Likely Than Men to Have Written Retirement Plans
Christy Bieber of The Motley Fool cites recent research from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies showing just 19% of women have a written retirement plan compared with 34% of men. This is a huge deal because women generally make less than…
More on the 1.3% COLA Announcement
CNBC goes into some detail on what today’s (10/13) announcement of a 1.3% cost of living adjustment (COLA) means. A 1.3% increase is smaller than this year’s 1.6% bump to benefits. In 2019, the COLA was 2.8%. Still, the 2021 increase is bigger…
3 Common Misconceptions About Social Security
Chris Kissell’s piece here in Money Talks News addresses three common misconceptions on Social Security, a massive and confusing program that even trips up the experts. The Nationwide Retirement Institute’s seventh-annual Social Security survey found three main things: Large numbers of American…
FDR’s grandson’s thoughts on Social Security today
It was the grandfather of James “Jim” Roosevelt, Jr. who created the Social Security program in 1935 that we all know. In this CNBC piece by Lorie Konish, she quotes the grandson, Jim. “My family considered my grandfather’s achievement in signing…