Social Security COLAs are failing retirees

Social Security COLA is calculated by comparing the average Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the third quarter of the current year to the same period in the previous year, with the percentage increase…

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New legislation would put caps on retirement balances

New legislation introduced by Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.) would require distributions for individuals with very large IRA and defined contribution retirement plan account balances.…

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Social Security Administration Announces New Online Tools and Notices for Disability Claims

Agency enhances online platform to expand service for disability cases The Social Security Administration (SSA) today announced major enhancements to my Social Security, expanding self-service options and the notices available to individuals navigating the disability claims and appeals process. The…

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Is the Flat-Rate COLA a solution to the insolvency issue?

One of the proposed parts of the solutions to the impending Social Security Trust Fund insolvency issue concerns how the annual cost-of-living adjustment is calculated and applied. Two terms that have been used are COLA cap and Flat-Rate COLA.  …

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LBJ and Social Security—Another Hotbed of Misunderstanding 

Lyndon B. Johnson, our 36th president, is remembered for many things, from his traumatic ascension to the presidency in the aftermath of President John Kennedy’s assassination to his pushing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to the finish line and his historic signing of Medicare…

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“Ask Rusty – I Was Cheated; I Delayed Claiming SS but Didn’t Get My Full Benefits”

 Dear Rusty:  I’m 70 now and took my Social Security benefits at age 68. Social Security would not allow me to take all my increased percentage earned by waiting until age 68 to claim.  My local Social Security office said I would get an increased…

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