Social Security
Using the Social Security “Do Over” Option as a Loan of Sorts
It might sound like trickery, but there is a way to obtain benefits on a temporary basis without jeopardizing your ability to maximum monthly benefits at a later date. The Motley Fool’s Maurie Backman explains how the one-time option of stopping…
Benefits at FRA or Age 70…A Look at the Debate
MarketWatch columnist Mark Hulbert provides an interesting discussion about the question of which is financially best: to file for Social Security benefits at full retirement age, or delay to age 70 and reap the rewards of delayed retirement credits. Like…
Assessing Your Retirement Readiness
With the equity markets in a state of disarray, and with uncertainty around every corner, it seems like everyone’s retirement plans are in jeopardy. The basic problem–and it’s not a new one at all–is one of figuring out the timing…
Working Past “Traditional” Retirement Ages: Not As Simple as You Might Think
The combination of inadequate savings and medical costs outpacing Social Security cost-of-living adjustments has made it more likely that folks in the future will extend their working lives much further than previous generations. In fact some studies have determined that…
A Government Shutdown and Your Social Security Benefit
QZ.com White House correspondent Heather Timmons provides insight into the ruling that “… essential services and mandatory spending programs continue to function” in the event of a government shutdown. With such an event looming potentially for later this week, her article points…
The Likely Permanence of Tax on Social Security Benefits
It’s an irritant to more than half of today’s Social Security beneficiaries, but all indications are that taxation of the benefits they’ve earned through a lifetime of participation in America’s workforce is here to stay. In fact, with Social Security…
Ask Rusty – Maximizing Spousal Benefits
Dear Rusty: My husband turns 68 next year, and I will be turning 66. He plans on continuing to work and retiring at age 70 to maximize his monthly Social Security benefits. I am retiring next year due to a…
Social Security’s Place in Your Future Retirement
No, Social Security is not going bankrupt. Yes, it does face a solvency issue that could, absent legislative action to correct its current trajectory. But despite the possibility that such corrective action will take place sooner rather that later, it’s still…
Social Security’s Importance
Although many media sources hasten to point out that Social Security will not be sufficient for many retirees to enjoy a retirement completely free of financial anxiety, the fact remains that the benefits represent a means to “keep an estimated…
SSA Solicits Input on Representative Payee Program
Via a Federal Register Notice, the Social Security Administration announced it is seeking input on the rules associated with its Representative Payee provisions, with a comment period that will run through 1/28/2019. In the notice, SSA states “We are requesting…