Social Security
On the Issue of Social Security Means Testing…
One of the ideas being explored these days is the thought that Social Security benefits for the ultra-wealthy should be perhaps curtailed or even eliminated. It’s not necessarily a new thought, since it has come up more than once over…
The Often Misunderstood Subject of Spousal Benefits–Some Clarifying Comments
Questions about benefits available to spouses fall into the most active category we deal with at the AMAC Foundation’s Social Security Advisory Service. For example, in 2022 the topics of spousal benefits and survivor benefits accounted for nearly a quarter…
Subtle Missteps That Can Lead to You Short-Changing Yourself on the Benefits Front
Even today, it’s surprising that many folks still are not fully aware of some of the very basic aspects that govern the amount of benefit they will be able to draw from Social Security. For example, our AMAC Foundation Social…
The On-Going “When to File” Debate…Another Perspective
One of the most persistent questions we receive here at the AMAC Foundation Social Security Advisory Service is deceptively simple: “When should I begin drawing my earned Social Security benefit?” And as frustrating as it may seem to our callers,…
Social Security’s Peculiar “Entitlement” Dilemma
“What a curious power words have.” The subheading, attributed to Polish journalist and Auschwitz concentration camp survivor Tadeusz Borowski, puts a fine point on one of the most misunderstood terms used in political and cultural commentary regarding Social Security. To…
Retirement Thinking: Is A Half-Million Dollars Enough?
To many people, having a half million dollars set aside for retirement sounds like it should be sufficient to ensure a reasonable retirement. But is it? In order to answer that question, there are a number of factors that need…
Some Little-Known Social Security Provisions/Rules That Might Be of Interest
Social Security has a bewildering collection of regulations governing the manner in which benefits can be drawn, but many of them deal with very unique situations. There are a few, however, that are often overlooked in their obscurity even though…
Ask Rusty – Will WEP and GPO Affect My Wife’s Spousal Benefit?
Dear Rusty: My wife worked for the US Postal Service in New York for about 22 years, and then in the private sector for about 15 years. She began collecting her “deferred annuity” from the USPS at age 62 and…
COLA Watch: We’re in the Homestretch for a 2024 Figure
We’re now in the third quarter of the year, and the projections for 2024’s Social Security cost-of-living adjustment are starting to come into focus. Remember, of course, that each year’s COLA calculation results from comparing the third quarter average Consumer…
Privatization of Social Security…An On-again/Off-again Issue
Quite a bit has been written on the subject of privatizing Social Security funding via stock market investment, and for many years, the basic premise has been a volatile issue for governmental administrations. Take, for example, President George W. Bush’s…