seniors
Demystifying Medicare
Medicare, part of President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society,” was first enacted in 1965. As it has evolved over the decades, Medicare now consists of four unique “parts,” each designed to provide specific healthcare insurance coverage to American seniors. “Original Medicare”…
About Working While Collecting Social Security
If you are planning to claim Social Security benefits in the near future and you are still working, it’s important to understand Social Security’s “Annual Earnings Test” (AET), the rules of which may limit how much you can earn while…
Tips to Prevent Retirement Financial Disaster
Retirement can be scary! Depending on your financial circumstances, unknown future situations can derail your retirement comfort and result in financial disaster, thus entirely disrupting your life. So, what should you do to avoid such circumstances? Well, renowned financial advisor…
Social Security: Claiming early vs. waiting for higher benefits
Claiming Social Security “early” (before full retirement age) is still the most popular option for many American seniors, even though they know waiting longer will substantially improve their monthly benefit. Two recent surveys revealed that nearly half of unretired Americans…
Demystifying Social Security’s “Earnings Test”
Social Security’s “Earnings Test” These days, working throughout one’s sixties and into and even beyond one’s seventies is very common. Recognizing that reality – and considering another which shows that most people today claim Social Security benefits in their early…
Thinking of Retiring Early? Read this first.
Early retirement – that is, retiring from your working career and living a life of ease and comfort – is something that all of us dream about as we approach our senior years. And while it is certainly a good…
Concerned about Social Security? Don’t be!
If you pay attention at all to media accounts and armchair pundits, you are already aware that Social Security has a looming solvency issue, expected to come to a head in less than a decade. According to the Trustees of…
Demystifying Child-in-Care Spouse Benefits
A Spouse Can Get Social Security Benefits Before Age 62 Most couples know that age 62 is the normal minimum age to apply for Social Security spousal benefits. But many are not aware that spouse benefits are available to spouses…
Will Social Security and Medicare Benefits Continue with the Government Shutdown?
The “government shutdown,” resulting from a disagreement between political parties on whether to continue funding the government while certain issues are unresolved, will likely continue for a while yet, according to this Motley Fool article. But will that affect your…
Medicare Open Enrollment & the Government Shutdown
As many already know, Medicare’s annual “open enrollment” period started on October 15th and will run through December 7th. This is the annual period when you can make changes to your healthcare coverage by switching from “original Medicare” to a…