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Social Security Basics in Four Minutes
Barbara Norman, Founder of the Women’s Financial Academy, in a four-minute video posted on San Diego’s www.kusi.com, takes a look at some fundamental aspects of Social Security. From the question of how benefits generally are calculated to the issue of spousal…
Smoothing Out the Rough Spots in Retirement–Just About Everybody Has Them!
Whether it’s being force into retirement earlier than planned, or the unexpected need to provide financial support to family members, or dissolution of a marriage, life can hit you from a variety of unexpected directions. There are ways to plan ahead…
How Women Benefit from Social Security
From their reliance on Social Security’s survivor benefits to the disproportionate percentage of women in their 90s drawing benefits, its clear that Social Security plays a big role in supporting the female portion of our population. In a post commemorating…
More COLA Watch Info: The Mechanics
Here’s another post explaining some of the facts about how Social Security’s COLA is determined. Mickie Douglas, with more than a decade of experience as a Social Security Public Affairs Specialist, provides a quick review of the process for releasing new COLA…
Your Retirement Planning Starts with Social Security
(Source: Social Security Administration) Right now is the perfect time to start planning for a secure, comfortable retirement. And you can count on Social Security to help you begin the process. First, we encourage you to set up an online my Social…
A Short-Range Projection for “Average” Social Security Benefits
With a fair number of moving parts yet to be put in motion, it becomes somewhat of an exercise in futility to project what the average American’s monthly Social Security benefit will be a decade or so from now. So,…
Trump Administration Targets Social Security Fraud
Through creation of a new deputy-commissioner-level Office of Analytics, Review and Oversight, and by combining complementary missions within the Social Security Administration agency, the Trump administration’s government reorganization plan hopes to del more effectively with the nagging problem of fraud and improper…
COLA Watch: CPI-W falls in July
Information released late last week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics seems to point to a lower than expected CPI-W for the next Social Security COLA calculation. The projected COLA of 2.2% for 2018 may now be in jeopardy,…
Want a quick primer on Social Security benefits? Got a few minutes?
The folks at Irving Planning & Investments, Ltd. have put together a concise video explaining some of the basic elements of the U.S. Social Security program. Titled “The Basics of Social Security Retirement Benefits. How much do you know about your…
Planning for Spending in Your Retirement Years–Some Things to Think About
The Motley Fool’s Maurie Backman, in a post at www.fool.com, takes a look at some of the spending categories those entering their retirement years tend to underestimate. Healthcare, of course is one of the biggest, but even underplanning entertainment and housing…