Social Security
Your Retirement and Health Care Expenses
Many retirees will be surprised, and not pleasantly, to know that healthcare expenditures are statistically expected to “consume around one-third of the total amount of monthly benefits seniors receive from Social Security.” So says The Motley Fool’s Christy Bieber in…
Boomers: Some Thoughts on Retirement Strategies
MoneyWatch’s Steve Vernon, in a post on www.cbsnews.com, examines the dilemma faced by many members of the “baby boom” generation–inadequate financial resources for their years in retirement. As he points out in his post, those falling into this category “… will…
Surprise! Your Social Security Benefits Can be Taxed
It comes as an unwelcome surprise to many new Social Security beneficiaries, but the truth is your monthly benefit may be subject to federal income tax. In fact, it’s not only possible, it’s likely, since more than half of current…
The budget deficit & Social Security
Mark Miller wades into the controversial debate about Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid and the budget deficit. These three programs, along with Defense, are the biggest in the entire federal budget. So, naturally “deficit hawks” talk about needing to do…
Keep portfolio intact by taking Social Security early
Conventional wisdom, at least as measured by what most experts say in financial articles, suggests delaying Social Security benefits as long as possible. After all, delaying from full retirement age until age 70 yields an 8% annual benefit for waiting. But…
Social Security: Who gets it and how much?
Dan Caplinger’s article presents an in depth analysis on what it takes to qualify for Social Security benefits and how The Social Security Administration figures one’s benefit amount. Essentially, to collect retirement benefits, one must be lawfully present in the United States,…
Social Security & Robocallers — What you need to know
Octavio Blanco writing in Consumer Reports addresses an alarming scam in this piece. Robocallers are using actual Social Security Administration phone numbers in order to steal important personal information from unsuspecting callers. The Federal Trade Commission says recipients of a call should hang up and…
Social Security just a piece of retirement. Learn about 401k plans here
Social Security income is an important monthly benefit to nearly 63 million people each month. But the program only replaces about 40 percent of pre-retirement income, and this varies depending on factors such as lifetime income, number of years in…
Social Security mostly, but not exclusively, for retirees
Sean Williams of The Motley Fool provides a plethora of data as to who actually receives Social Security benefits. If you guessed retired workers (defined as 62 and older) are the most numerous beneficiaries, then you are correct. Retirees are almost…
Are the Social Security payroll taxes you paid yours? Absolutely not.
Jeff Szymanski works in political communications at The Association of Mature American Citizens. He wrote this piece to explain a common misconception about Social Security payroll taxes. Perhaps the biggest misunderstanding (but not the only one) when I taught my lesson on Social Security to…