seniors
Your Social Security benefit won’t be cut in 2026
If you are worried about your Social Security payment going down in 2026, you likely should not be. Your monthly benefit is based upon your lifetime earnings while working and, except for cost-of-living adjustments (increases), your monthly payment will not…
About the Annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)
Although you may have seen early predictions, it is too soon to know for sure how next year’s Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) will increase your monthly Social Security payment. That news will actually be revealed in mid-October, after completion…
Paper Social Security Checks Are Changing to Electronic Payments Soon
The Social Security Administration is changing how benefits are paid for about half a million beneficiaries. About 520,000 people, who now receive their monthly Social Security payment by a paper check received in the mail, will need to switch to…
Ask Rusty – I’m Turning 70. When Should I Apply for Social Security?
Dear Rusty: I have a very simple question: I will turn 70 on September 20th and want to start my Social Security benefits in September. What month should I file my claim? Have there been delays with the reductions in…
Social Security: Once upon a time – and Today
Once upon a time, there was no real social security in the United States of America. Oh, there were a few early 19th century attempts at public programs to limit poverty, especially for the elderly. However, all of these early…
Do you qualify for a Medicare Special Needs Plans?
Individuals eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid coverage are referred to as Medicare dual-eligible. The individual can enroll in a Special Needs Plan (SNP) where a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan coordinates the care plan designed to provide targeted care and…
Celebrating Social Security Fairness Act Milestone
The Social Security Administration recently celebrated a key milestone by announcing that we completed sending over 3.1 million payments, totaling $17 billion, to beneficiaries eligible under the Social Security Fairness Act (SSFA), 5 months ahead of schedule. When the SSFA…
The Social Security Board of Trustees’ 2026 COLA estimate
The annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) calculation uses the data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics from the third quarter of the year, specifically the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) readings from July through…
Will your Social Security check be cut?
Improper payments, generally overpayments, were made by the Social Security Administration between 2015 and 2022, totaling $72 billion. There are various reasons why overpayments occur; the most common error is failure to report changes involving income. By law, the Social…
Delaying retirement
As Americans approach retirement age, a growing number of them are delaying retirement, and more than fifty percent are expressing doubts about the future of Social Security. A recent survey found that almost two-thirds of pre-retirees are concerned about outliving…