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The Complex World Of Social Security Spousal Benefits
Jamie Hopkins of Forbes notes that many people are familiar with how their own Social Security benefits work. However, fewer are aware of how spousal benefits work, and spousal benefits can be complex with numerous claiming options and factors to…
Social Security and American Public Opinion
Frank Newport is a senior scientist at The Gallup organization. He examines a plethora of polling data on Social Security in this piece. For starters, Social Security isn’t called the third rail of politics for nothing. Americans consistently say that they want Social Security benefits…
The myth that’s become a full blown Social Security conspiracy
Contributor Eliana Block cites The Social Security Administration and three independent experts who concur that no funds have ever been misappropriated from Social Security or its Trust Fund. One of the experts, Alex Lawson, states unequivocally, “”By law, the funds that…
Why Social Security Faces a Funding Shortfall
Why are Social Security’s finances so shaky? As Maurie Backman explains in this piece, there are three main reasons: First, too many baby boomers are retiring at once. Second, not enough younger employees are entering the workforce to replace them. Third,…
How to Retire Rich Without Social Security
Social Security is facing long term financial challenges, with benefits cuts to all due to take effect in 2034 or 2035 without congressional reform before then. Nilus Mattive of The Daily Reckoning suggests five strategies that would allow one to avoid…
What Is a Backdoor IRA?
As Todd Campbell explains in this Motley Fool article, there’s no such thing as an official backdoor Roth IRA. Because high-income earners cannot directly contribute after-tax money to a Roth IRA, they must fund one through the backdoor approach. Note, traditional IRAs have no income…
Full Retirement Age – Few know what it is or what it means
Do you know your full retirement age as it pertains to Social Security? Apparently not many Americans do. It is easily mixed up with early retirement age and maximum retirement age. Maurie Backman explains that what it is and when…
Social Security billing problem with Medicare premium deductions
About 250,000 Social Security recipients have not had their correct Medicare Advantage or Part D premiums deducted properly for five months. The Social Security Administration (SSA) just discovered the problem. That means a quarter of a million people will soon…
Younger Workers Ready to Give Up on Social Security
In yet another in a slew of polls in as many years, pessimism about Social Security abounds. According to Northwestern Mutual’s 2019 Planning & Progress Study, 22% of non-retired Americans think it unlikely that Social Security will be available to pay them…
Memorize these three Social Security rules
Since most people will rely on Social Security benefits to at least some degree in their golden years, maximizing those benefits should be a goal. Doing so means understanding three main rules, according to Maurie Backman. First, even though age…