seniors
How does your net worth compare to others?
Net worth, retirement savings and debt look very different once retirement begins. Turns out, though, that American’s in the age 65 to 74 age bracket are doing quite well compared to those in other age groups. for example, those in…
Who Are the “Social Security” Police?
Ever wonder if there is a police force which watches the Social Security Administration, and who looks out for the 72 million Americans who rely on this important benefit for retirees, spouses, minor children, and disabled workers and adults? Well,…
Elder Abuse Awareness
Yesterday, June 15th, was “Elder Abuse Awareness Day” at the Federal Government, and the Social Security Administration (SSA) highlighted some important information about elder abuse. SSA is, after all, responsible for helping about 70 million people live outside of poverty!…
The Retiree’s “Fear of Running Out of Money”
When we’ve been conditioned for almost our entire life to save, save, save, for our future retirement, it is hard for most to simply flip the switch to “spend, spend, spend” the nest egg we’ve so diligently accumulated over the…
Four Options for Social Security Reform
There are, of course, a plethora of options for reforming Social Security floating around Washington, D.C. these days, as the urgency of a solution was highlighted once again in the recent release of the SS Trustees’ annual report to Congress.…
Will Congress finally get serious about fixing Social Security?
If you read these pages regularly, you already know that the nation’s premier retirement benefit program – Social Security – is facing some serious financial challenges very soon (e.g., in 2032). We’ve published numerous articles at this site both describing…
Ask Rusty – Why Don’t They Just Create Individual Social Security Accounts?
Dear Rusty: Regarding Social Security’s financial issues, three people contributing to Social Security for every one beneficiary sounds to me like a surplus. If they had given workers their own accounts, similar to a 401k, where they could manage their…
Trustee’s Report confirms: SS Benefit Cuts are on the horizon (unless Congress acts soon)!
The Trustees of Social Security do an annual assessment of the Social Security program’s financial health, and the 2026 report (which reflects status as of the end of 2025) was finally released recently on June 9th. Disturbingly, the program’s financial…
What you should know about potential Social Security shortfall
According to the 2026 Social Security Trustees report released earlier this week, the fund is now expected to begin depleting by the fourth quarter of 2032. At that point, the fund would be able to pay 78 percent of scheduled…
Achieving a better distribution of Social Security benefits
In the continuing discussion of the best way to solve Social Security’s financial shortfall, Alicia H. Munnell argues that a key goal should be achieving a more equitable distribution of benefits, not just closing the funding gap. To judge fairness,…