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Doing a retirement plan without Social Security
Sure, if you work and earn money, at some point you’re going to start thinking about your retirement and spend some time planning what kind of income you might need. That’s a good thing. But even though you may know…
“Fixing” Social Security – yet another perspective
There’s certainly no shortage of so-called “experts” who have an opinion on how to fix Social Security’s looming financial issues. As you may know, for the first time in decades Social Security will need to dip into its $2.9 trillion…
Social Security Disability’s Compassionate Allowance list expanded
Many disabled workers applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits may not be aware that the Social Security Administration uses a list of medical conditions which qualify for “Compassionate Allowance” status, meaning that applicants with those conditions will be…
A guide to estimating your Social Security benefit
While there’s no way to know exactly what your Social Security benefit will be until you actually apply for it, you can at least estimate how much your monthly payment might be. Although your base benefit is computed using the…
When it comes to Social Security, one size doesn’t fit all
Few could argue that Social Security isn’t America’s most important benefit program. The fact is that about a third of all recipients depend on their monthly benefit check for 90% or more of their retirement income, and that more than…
Social Security’s major milestone, coming in 2019
Perhaps except for Medicare, Social Security is the quintessential benefit program available to America’s senior citizens. With over 62 million people relying on the program as an important part of their monthly retirement income, few would argue that the program…
Social Security’s finances are okay now, but the future is different
If you were to look only at Social Security’s financial status as of today, you would think the program was in very good health. As of the end of last year, the program brought in over $44 billion more than…
“And the survey says….” workers are concerned about Social Security
Not surprisingly, according to a recent survey by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, younger workers are more concerned than their older counterparts about Social Security being there for them. Fully 80% of today’s millennials and 83% of Gen-X’ers worry…
How to Reform Social Security
There’s plenty of news these days about Social Security’s looming financial crisis, namely that the Trust Fund will be depleted in 2034, at which time benefits may be cut by about 21%. Alarming news, for sure, but nevertheless news which…
Retirement saving and planning is a lifetime thing
Except for the public sector (police, firemen, teachers & elected officials), the old “defined benefit plan” for retirement has largely disappeared. That means that for those working in the private sector the responsibility for securing retirement has shifted dramatically from…