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Retiring Abroad: What You Need to Know
Overseas retirement is growing in popularity in spite of weather risk and vulnerable infrastructure. According to Social Security Administration, about 400,000 American retirees live abroad and that number has climbed 17 percent between 2010 and 2015. Read article here… Notice: The…
Charitable Donations from Your 401(k) Account
In Kim Langford’s column appearing on Kiplinger’s website, she answers a reader’s question “I know you can give your required minimum distribution from an IRA to charity tax-free. Can you also give your RMD from a 401(k) to charity?” Read her answer here… Notice: The…
Should you take your pension as a lump sum?
If you’re among the decreasing number of retiring employees with a pension, you may be offered an option to take it as a lump sum rather than lifetime monthly payments. While getting a large sum of money up front can…
A dozen ways to secure your future
Not running out of money in retirement is, or should be, the primary goal of all those looking ahead to their golden years. Trouble is, far too many people either don’t know how, or neglect acting to secure their financial…
New Medicare ID numbers should reduce vulnerability, but still beware
Thankfully, starting in April and May of next year, Medicare will be issuing new cards which no longer use your Social Security number as a means to identify you for healthcare services. That will go a long way to reduce your…
Avoiding identity theft is your responsibility
Despite all of the headlines about the Equifax security breach and the resulting calls for improvements in the credit reporting systems, the fact is that we’re in an electronic age that makes every computer system and every individual vulnerable to having…
Social Security COLA could be affected by recent hurricanes
While the devastation caused by hurricanes Harvey and Irma is stunning, if there’s a silver lining in those clouds it may be that inflated gasoline prices could cause an up-tick in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Gas prices, one of the…
The Social Security disability backlog dilemma
Recent news revealed that the backlog for Social Security disability claims has reached over a million applications, meaning that a lot of disabled workers are waiting an extraordinarily long time to find out if they can get assistance. Clearly, cases…
25 years in prison for Social Security fraudster
Proving once again that “crime does not pay”, a judge in Kentucky handed down a sentence of 25 years in prison to one of three men convicted in the biggest Social Security fraud case in U.S. history. The scheme defrauded Social Security of…
The “retirement savings gap”
Much has been written lately about the “retirement savings gap” – the lack of retirement savings by Americans – and what we, as employers and employees, should do to ease the problem. After all, it’s our retirement so, thus, it’s…