seniors
Are You Really Ready for Retirement?
Suddenly pulling the plug on a decades long working career can be disconcerting at best, and traumatic at worst! So, are you really ready for that? Going from a 40 to 50 hour work week, to suddenly having nothing but…
Retiring abroad has its challenges
Social media is full of advice for retirees wanting to live abroad. Their videos highlight the lower cost of living in places like Costa Rica, Malaysia, and Portugal. Yes, other countries have lower living costs, but that does not mean…
The next batch of drugs under negotiations
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a draft guidance on May 12th for the third round of Medicare drug negotiations. The government has until the end of November to announce the agreed-upon Medicare prices, with the lower…
A record year for Social Security
More Americans are filing for their Social Security benefits this year, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute. There are several factors, including the silver tsunami of retiring baby boomers, anxiety about the direction of the economy, changes to…
Another 2026 COLA prediction
With the start of the summer season, many financial experts are reviewing the inflation data to make an early prediction on the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2026. But, the only months that factor into the COLA calculation are those in…
Only the complex cases remain
The Social Security Administration has completed 87 percent of adjustments and retroactive payments to beneficiaries who were affected by the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset before the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act. The remaining beneficiaries with…
How prioritizing Social Security Fairness Act claims affects other claims
According to Social Security employees at several processing centers, because officials at Social Security have prioritized the remaining 900,000 complicated cases resulting from the Social Security Fairness Act, those claims are now at the top of their work list, causing…
When is the Medicare initial enrollment period?
Medicare initial enrollment period (IEP) occurs three months before your 65th birthday, the month of your 65th birthday, and the three months after your 65th birthday. You can enroll in Original Medicare, which includes Parts A and Part B. Once…
Turning retirement savings into regular income
Turning retirement savings into regular income continues to pose a challenge for retirees, according to Vanguard’s investment strategy group. The group examined information from 70,000 retirees who had been in an employer-sponsored 401(k) plan administrated by Vanguard for five years…
How can employers better prepare employees for retirement
A recent report from the TIAA Institute and the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center found that over a quarter of millennials surveyed expect to live 30 or more years in retirement; however, their retirement savings are falling short. Employers can…