Social Security
Social Security & The Presidential Candidates
Precious little has been said on the campaign trail about Social Security this season, and the debate moderators have shied away from questions on the topic. This MarketWatch piece by Alessandra Malita provides a comprehensive overview and summary on where…
How to Read Social Security Benefit Estimates
Bob Carlson, editor of Retirement Watch, writes an informative piece in Forbes on how to read the statement of estimated benefits mailed by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to everyone age 60 and older. This important statement has an individual’s…
Does the Age You Claim Social Security Actually Matter?
Theoretically if one lives to exactly an average life expectancy, then the result is the same no matter when benefits began. Collecting early (one can start as early as 62) means smaller checks, but more of them. Claiming later (age…
Government Pensions Can Reduce Social Security: A Primer on WEP
Christy Bieber explains the Windfall Elimination provision’s (WEP) rationale and what happens in practice to those who worked some of their lives in a job where they paid into Social Security and some of their lives when they did not.…
Why Are Social Security Benefits Taxable?
According to Sean Williams of The Motley Fool, about 50 percent of all seniors receiving Social Security will owe some amount of income tax on their benefits this year. Williams provides a brief history of how and why benefits became…
Should the U.S. follow France and up the retirement age?
Social Security’s full retirement age has only ever been changed one time in 1983, and by just two years. Proposals to increase it further are often discussed, but they seem to go nowhere, despite the program’s financial troubles and looming…
More Reasons Why Social Security Must be Saved
Although this article comes at the subject from a somewhat different angle, the message is still crystal clear…the financial plight of America’s Seniors is such that an across the board cut in benefits would be devastating. The statistics presented in…
The Persistent Question: When Should I File for Benefits?
The AMAC Foundation’s Social Security Advisory Service has fielded early 9,000 individual requests for help since its January 2016 launch. And while many of the requests we’ve fielded deal with the complexities of Social Security’s myriad rules and regulations, like…
Examining the “$1 Million” Retirement Goal
Will it be enough? Christy Bieber, posting in the Sioux City Journal, takes a look at how attaining this goal–if one even can–will work out for you in retirement. She cites the impact of withdrawal guidelines, inflation, and longevity as…
Saving For Retirement: Time to Take Stock
The Motley Fool’s Maurie Backman, in a post on their website, describes the difficulties many future retirees may face as a result of inadequate financial preparation for their post-career years. Citing statistics that show nearly of Americans woefully behind the…