Latest News
SS Recipients Must Give Banking Info to IRS for Electronic Stimulus Payment
The guidance on stimulus payments for Social Security beneficiaries has been a bit fluid over the last couple of weeks, leaving many with the impression that the IRS would be using their Social Security bank deposit information to provide the COVID-10 payment electronically. It turns out that…
Stimulus Payment Notice for SS Beneficiaries with Dependents
Social Security beneficiaries and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients who do not file an income tax return have until May 5th to tell the IRS about qualifying dependents to get a timely payment for that benefit. An extra $500 for each qualifying…
Estimating Your Social Security Benefit
Especially during the pandemic, with Social Security offices closed to in-person visits and exceptionally long wait times on the phone, obtaining an estimate of your future Social Security benefit may prove to be a daunting experience. But there are ways other than direct contact…
Retirement Planning During Challenging Times
You’ve done all of the planning for your “golden years.” You’ve got it all laid out and are looking forward a future when you can kick back, take naps in your hammock and catch up on all that reading you’ve put off…
Pandemic Special: Medicare Now Covers “Telehealth” Services
Adjusting quickly and nimbly to how the pandemic has changed the face of healthcare, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced a major update to Medicare’s coverage of “telehealth” services. That’s really good news for both patients…
What Does Retirement Mean to You?
So, what does your future hold? Full retirement with with leisure choices so plentiful that you have trouble choosing which to enjoy? Continuing to contribute to society through philanthropic or volunteer work? Or, perhaps, finding out what type of work you really…
Trustees’ Report on the Health of Social Security’s Trust Fund
Seemingly lost in the clamor over the COVID-19 pandemic is the news that the Trustees of the Social Security Trust Funds have released their annual report on the financial health of this critically important earned benefit program. Based upon last…
COVID-19 and Your Retirement Savings
Unless you’ve been in a cocoon for the last couple of months, you know that the financial markets have been decimated by the Coronavirus and that your retirement nest egg almost certainly isn’t what it was just a few months…
Getting a Lump Sum Social Security Payment
Using a somewhat obscure Social Security rule it is possible, if you have passed your full retirement age (FRA), to get up to six months of benefits in a retroactive lump sum, which could be attractive to those in need…
Checking the Status of your Stimulus Payment
Somewhat understandably because of the volume of recipients and rapidity of deployment, a degree of confusion exists about who is eligible for a coronavirus stimulus payment, and how and when those payments will be disbursed. Payments starting flowing quickly to those who filed…