Social Security
COLA Countdown: Bracing for A Drop-off from the Past Two Years
We’re about a month and a half away from the official announcement of 2024’s Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), and the airwaves have come alive with commentary about what is expected to be a substantial reduction from the 2022 (5.9%)…
Social Security Advice for Women Could Equally Benefit Men
The Motley Fool’s Selena Maranjian takes a look at a series of tips provided by the Social Security Administration to help women make the best decisions for their benefits, but also notes that these ideas are essentially unisex. Calling them…
Planning on Waiting Until Age 70? Here are Some Thoughts to Ponder
Choosing the correct time to begin drawing Social Security benefits involves many factors, but one common piece of advice from financial advisors is to defer as long as you can, optimally to age 70, to get a larger monthly benefit…
Nationwide Retirement Institute’s 10th Annual Social Security Survey–The Good & Bad News
The 2023 edition of Nationwide’s annual survey produced some striking differences of opinion regarding the viability of Social Security, with 40% of the more than 1800 respondents saying they’re very confident (or at least confident) about the program’s staying power…
Thoughts on Dealing With the Dreaded Federal Income Tax on Social Security Benefits
It often comes as a surprise (and not a pleasant one, at that) to the newly retired when they file their federal income tax return after beginning their Social Security retirement benefits and find that receiving this benefit ups their…
Iowa Caucusgoers Show Slight Preference for Social Security Privatization
It’s still about six months until the Iowa Republican caucuses commence, but a Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa poll sought to get a feel for the preferences of those likely to attend. Social Security was one of the seven questions…
The Disparate Effects of Social Security Reductions
GoBankingRate.com contributor Vance Cariaga, in a post today on their website, takes a look at what potential Social Security benefit cuts would mean for women. Using average benefit calculations as a basis for discussion, Cariaga notes that an across-the-board cut…
An Argument for Privatization of Social Security
Calling it a situation where there were “missed many opportunities” for improving the characterization of Social Security, European Fulbright scholar Ottumwan Siegfried “Sig” H. Sutterlin offers an essay on the history of the program and how there were occasions through…
Assessing Social Security’s Role in the “Transition” to Retirement
In an article challenging the belief that there is a widespread “retirement crisis” in play in America, contributor John Sullivan of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries (ASPPA) offers a different view of how Social Security factors into…
Our Social Security Program Continues to Evolve, But Some Things Do Not Change
It’s common knowledge these days that America’s Social Security program is presently locked into a trajectory that will lead it to insolvency in less than a decade. While there are many resolutions on the drawing board to avoid reaching that…