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Increase Your Social Security Benefits Now
Many articles are written about boosting Social Security benefits. Some nefariously suggest you must purchase a newsletter to get “the hidden secrets” and the like. But in reality, as Katie Brockman writes in this Motley Fool piece, it really comes…
3 Reasons Claiming Social Security at 62 Makes Sense
Christy Bieber’s article in The Motley Fool covers three reasons when it might make sense to take Social Security at age 62, despite all the experts saying to delay. First, you don’t have to worry about dying before you break…
5 Social Security Tips for 2020 and Beyond
Selena Maranjian of The Motley Fool suggests folks know and understand these five things about Social Security. First, know your full retirement age; it has increased as the 1983 change in the law reaches final implementation. Second, find out how…
How to Read Social Security Benefit Estimates
Bob Carlson, editor of Retirement Watch, writes an informative piece in Forbes on how to read the statement of estimated benefits mailed by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to everyone age 60 and older. This important statement has an individual’s…
Americans Who Think They Won’t Need Social Security Are Likely Wrong
Katie Brockman cites a survey from Provision Living that finds only 39% of Americans say they expect to rely on their monthly benefits to make ends meet in retirement. While it may sound good, Americans are way behind on what they should…
How Much Money Will You Actually Get From Social Security?
Kailey Hagen notes it’s partly up to people themselves as to the amount they will actually receive. This short but comprehensive article explains how benefits are calculated. Hagen provides the usual good advice to maximize income by working a full…
Indirect fixes not enough to cure Social Security’s ills
Sean Williams notes that President Trump rarely talks about Social Security changes or fixes because the President believes a strengthening economy is the cure for what ails the program. Indeed, Williams notes that tactic worked in 2018, as payroll tax revenue…
Does the Age You Claim Social Security Actually Matter?
Theoretically if one lives to exactly an average life expectancy, then the result is the same no matter when benefits began. Collecting early (one can start as early as 62) means smaller checks, but more of them. Claiming later (age…
Government Pensions Can Reduce Social Security: A Primer on WEP
Christy Bieber explains the Windfall Elimination provision’s (WEP) rationale and what happens in practice to those who worked some of their lives in a job where they paid into Social Security and some of their lives when they did not. As…
Why Are Social Security Benefits Taxable?
According to Sean Williams of The Motley Fool, about 50 percent of all seniors receiving Social Security will owe some amount of income tax on their benefits this year. Williams provides a brief history of how and why benefits became…