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Personal finance 101, including Social Security
Social Security is not a retirement plan, as it replaces just 40% of pre-retirement income. That’s but one of four very important personal finance points in this Motley Fool piece by Catherine Brock. The other points are these: budgeting is…
The CARES Act and tapping your 401k
Christy Bieber cautions against knee-jerk reactions such as withdrawing or borrowing from a 401k to make ends meet during this pandemic. However, she discusses relief for Americans who may need to do either in the recently passed CARES Act. Those who need to…
Americans struggle with Social Security claiming age rules
Stated simply– the age you begin claiming monthly Social Security benefits will affect how much you receive for the rest of your life. But too few Americans understand that. As Katie Brockman points out in this piece, just 3% of participants could…
Social Security and the More Subtle Impact of COVID-19
It doesn’t take a lot of deep thought to recognize the relationship between Social Security’s well-known solvency problem and the more immediate impact of stunning workforce casualties of the coronavirus pandemic. With about a tenth of the entire workforce filing for…
Thoughts on Your Retirement Decision: Early or Late?
For many Americans, deciding when to take the step into retirement is a challenging matter, requiring a fair amount of thought, research, and advice. Should I retire early, or should I wait for a better moment? When I retire, will…
Coronavirus-Related Medicare Scam Alert
(Source: Seema Verma, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, via Social Security Administration) Since older Americans are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus (COVID-19), I wanted to remind Medicare beneficiaries to be vigilant and take precautions to avoid falling…
Worried About Social Security in Your Future? Mistakes to Avoid
As noted in an article posted today by The Motley Fool’s Selena Maranjian on their site, many Americans are worried about the health of our country’s Social Security system, and rightfully so. Ms. Maranjian acknowledges the worries, and offers conjecture on three…
Stimulus Checks Set to Begin Arriving Today?
According to a news release posted by News4Jax late yesterday afternoon, the first wave of economic impact payments should have begun hitting bank accounts Thursday, April 9. The subtitle on their post noted “Those with direct deposit information on file with IRS…
COVID-19 Updates from the Social Security Administration
The Social Security Administration today posted updated information on their webpage dedicated to the COVID-19 (https://www.ssa.gov/coronavirus) pandemic. Here are excerpts on two specific areas our AMAC Foundation Social Security Advisory Service has received a number of inquires about: How do…
Clarifying Today’s Restricted Application Rules
One of the more frequent questions we field at the AMAC Foundation’s Social Security Advisory Service deals with the restricted application (RA) rules that were changed with the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. Prior to that Act, folks could apply for…