Social Security
Surprise! 2025 COLA Won’t Offset True Inflation
Inflation is an insidious thing – inexorably creeping prices for most everything we buy. And while there is often a lot of hoopla about how Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) are designed to help seniors keep up with inflation, the…
Social Security For Military Veterans
Fresh on the heels of this year’s Memorial Day holiday, this article by Hillary Hatch explains the Social Security Administration’s policies regarding military veterans. The article, appearing at Pioneer’s Big Rapids News website, specifically offers insight into how VA disability…
Early Prediction of 2025 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)
It’s way too early to say with any degree of certainty what next year’s COLA will be, but it’s still interesting to take a look at what might be. Inflation, of course, is the driver of any COLA increase to…
All About Taxation of Retirement Benefits (including Social Security)
Ben Franklin once said, “Nothing is certain but death an taxes.” Especially at the Federal level, taxation of your income may be inevitable, but the story is considerably different when it comes to State income taxes. The fact is, that…
Options for Restoring Social Security to Solvency
It’s certainly no secret that Social Security will be facing some serious financial difficulty in about ten years – that fact has been all over the media for a few years now. The stark reality is that reform of the…
Planning For Your Retirement
” … people shouldn’t view retirement as “an endless vacation.”” Instead, they should dive into their inner selves and values,” according to this Yahoo! Finance article by Tina Nazerian. What will your retirement look like? Do you have a specific…
About Raising Social Security’s Full Retirement Age
Hyperbole and apparent political endorsement aside, this Motley Fool article by Maurie Backman identifies and tacitly endorses a controversial solution to Social Security’s financial woes – raising the full retirement age (FRA). FRA is when a claimant can get 100%…
Social Security Solvency: A Perspective
Considering all the media exposure the topic has received in recent years, you’re likely already aware that Social Security is facing some financial issues in the not-too-distant future. To be exact, 2033 is when the program’s Trustees currently project Social…
Be Smart About Your Social Security Benefits
Let’s face it – Social Security was never meant to be your sole source of income in retirement. In reality, Social Security provides only about 40% of what you’ll need to retire comfortably, so having an additional source of income…
Millennials Likely to Bear the Burden of Social Security Reform
Given all the media coverage in the past year or so, it’s now pretty well known that Social Security – the nation’s bedrock retirement program – will face serious financial issues in about a decade. Although the recently released Social…