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Myth Patrol: Dispelling Two Persistant Questions on Social Security Planning
In many respects, financial planning for retirement is somewhat of a crystal ball experience. There are certainly unknowns, and that makes planning difficult. But there are myths and misunderstandings, which add more uncertainty to the process. The American Society of…
SSA Announcements Improvements in Document Processing
A part of its pursuit of “faster and more error-free processing and better service” for its customer base, the Social Security Administration (SSA) recently announced procedural improvements in the handling of documents previously requiring physical signatures. More than 30 forms…
Retiring in 2025? Read on.
If you’re on the verge of “taking the plunge” into Social Security’s world of retirement benefits, now would be a good time to reflect on a short series of key factors that may help you in a final decision. The…
Boosting Your Monthly Social Security Benefit Payment
Getting the highest benefit payment you’re entitled to is a legitimate goal for seniors in their retirement financial planning, but how do you do that? Well, one of the most obvious steps is to defer claiming benefits as long as…
Inadequacy of COLA in the News Again
January Social Security benefits are underway at this point and, once again, observations of the COLA calculation process and its inadequacy to preserve purchasing power for seniors are surfacing. For example, a post this weekend by The Motley Fool’s Keith…
Arguments For and Against WEP-GPO Repeal Continuing to Surface
As noted in today’s headline post on this site, President Biden’s January 5 signing of the “Social Security Fairness Act” of 2023 into law continues to churn the media airwaves in its aftermath. Here are some examples of what’s surfacing:…
CMS proposes $21B payment increase for Medicare Advantage in 2026
CMS has released a new advanced notice to increase payments to Medicare Advantage plans in 2026. CMS expects to spend $9.2 trillion over the next decade in an “effort to provide access to affordable, high-quality care in Medicare Advantage while…
ACA enrollment surges
As of January 4th, almost 24 million consumers have signed up for the 2025 Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace coverage, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Enrollment figures for 2024 were just over 21 million enrollees.…
Breaking News: Social Security & Medicare aren’t Going Bankrupt!!
In the true sense of the word, neither Social Security nor Medicare is in any danger of going “bankrupt.” However, that doesn’t mean that both programs are not having financial difficulties. Indeed they are, but the worst case scenario is…
A Logistics Nightmare: Implementing the Social Security Fairness Act.
Celebrated by all those affected by the elimination Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), what’s not talked about is the logistics of implementing this new legislation known as the Social Security Fairness Act. Fact is, bills…