Latest News
Erroneous death errors made by Social Security
It’s sad but true: The behemoth bureaucracy at the Social Security Administration can, and does, make mistakes. And if one of their mistakes, perhaps a simple keystroke error, results in you being listed on their “death index”, you could be…
Teaching High School kids about Social Security
As a topic to discuss with high school kids, “Social Security” would surely get a lot of rolling eyes and sighs, and probably a pretty cavalier response from some of those students. But among his experiences working many years for the…
Social Security number may be removed from your W-2
Recognizing the ever increasing risk of identity theft, and how use of the Social Security number (SSN) as a means of identifying tax payers contributes to that risk, the Internal Revenue Service has proposed a change which would allow employers…
Social Security facts you may not know
Over 61 million Americans receive Social Security benefits, and for most it is a very important part of their financial stability. Given the size of the program and its importance to nearly everyone’s well being, it surprising that many people simply…
Recent hurricanes could boost Social Security benefits
If there can be any good news resulting from the recent devastating hurricanes, it’s that America’s seniors may see a somewhat better COLA increase than was projected just a couple of months ago. Because Hurricane Harvey shut down oil refineries…
Fixing the retirement savings system: Don’t tamper with the things that work
With tax reform now front and center stage in the political arena, some in D.C. have suggested changing the traditional savings vehicles like IRA’s and 401(k)’s in favor of the Roth IRA, in order to force Americans to use the…
Healthcare costs: Your biggest retirement expense
The cost of healthcare in retirement has continued to grow, now predicted at about $260,000 for the typical retired couple. That’s certainly not something to forget about when planning for your golden years, Medicare doesn’t cover everything, and the cost of…
Why people are retiring later and later
From a low average age of 62 in the 1980’s to an average of 65 today, the retirement age for men has been steadily increasing. Similarly, women are also waiting longer to retire, now about 62 on average, up from…
Remarrying after divorce or death of a spouse
If you are a divorced or a surviving spouse, getting married again can have an impact on your Social Security benefits, and it would be wise to know how before you tie the knot again. The affect of a remarriage…
Replacing the Social Security number for identification
Even though it wasn’t intended as such, the Social Security number has become the de facto means of identifying nearly every American, not only for Social Security but also for numerous other transactions, especially in banking and healthcare. Since the visibility…