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New study: Early claimers see increased incidence of poverty
More people claim their Social Security benefits at age 62 than at any other age. But this could be a terrible mistake. In this Market Watch article, Mark Hulbert cites a new study circulated by the National Bureau of Economic Research: “Early…
Biggest Monthly Benefit Checks Start at Age 70: Why Don’t More People Wait?
The simplest answer to the question why more people don’t wait until age 70 to begin collecting Social Security benefits, when their checks would be the highest monthly amount possible, is this– most cannot afford to wait this long. Christy…
Five Steps to a Richer Retirement
Selena Maranjian of The Motley Fool says these are the five questions one should ask when considering retirement: 1.) Have you paid off your debts? 2.) Do you have a plan for a successful retirement? 3.) Have you included healthcare in…
Social Security and Inflation – What You Should Know
It may be that there is no perfect way to calculate the rate of inflation and then translate that into commensurate raises for Social Security recipients. So how is it done? The Social Security Administration (SSA) has used the Consumer Price Index…
Social Security and Family Leave: What’s the connection?
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has proposed The Economic Security for New Parents Act which would allow new parents to pull forward Social Security benefits to finance paid parental leave in exchange for having their retirement delayed by three to six months…
Starting Social Security Well After Age 62 has Benefits
In 2016 about 60 percent of new Social Security recipients began taking benefits before their full retirement age, with around one-third starting them at age 62, the earliest age possible. While some people may take benefits early due to the negative news about…
Bernie Sanders’ Social Security Bill: Good intentions, but makes shortfall worse
Sen. Sanders of Vermont is out with a new bill on Social Security. Sean Williams of The Motley Fool summarizes the bill in this article. In short, the bill would significantly improve funding for offices and for the agency to…
Labor Day, Women, and Social Security: How are they connected?
Americans celebrated Labor Day on Monday, September 3rd. It’s the unofficial end of summer, a day for cookouts and barbecues, the last chance to hit the beach, and of course a day to honor laborers. But, as Lynda Waddington notes in this historical…
Chained CPI: Taking a Look at the (Fuzzy) Math
It’s a not a new concept, but it just keeps coming around for discussion–the shift away from CPI-W for Social Security cost-of-living calculations in favor of a “Chained CPI” approach. As you’ll recall, the logic behind this proposal is that…
Older Workers Face Obstacles in Finding Employment
Much of the financial advice floating in the air these days makes it sound sort of easy. Go ahead, retire, and find a less stressful job to supplement the drop in earnings. Perhaps even embrace the “gig economy,” where one…