Social Security
Spotlight on Social Security Tax– 200+ People Have Already Paid Theirs in 2024
Teresa Ghilarducci, a former economics professor, highlights the Social Security wage cap in this Forbes piece. Only the first $168,600 in wages in 2024 are subject to the combined employee and employer 12.4% tax, and many of the uber rich…
Social Security Earnings Test: Unliked & Misunderstood.
If there’s one rule that trips people up the most when it comes to Social Security benefits, it’s likely the Earnings Test Limit. Maurie Backman notes many people like to work part or even full time while collecting benefits. But…
An Argument for Better Investment of Social Security Funds
In a post yesterday on marningstar.com, finance writer Brent Arends takes exception to how Social Security’s trust fund reserves have been invested over the years, suggesting that deploying the balance in selected U.S. stocks could have produced a return far…
Limit the recovery of overpayments
There is a new bill in Congress, H.R. 6858, which will amend the Social Security Act to limit the recovery of overpayments to a ten-year period; currently, there is no time limit on how far back they can go to…
Optimistic about the future of Social Security
Despite all the fear-mongering on social media saying Social Security is going bankrupt and will not be able to pay Social Security benefits, over half of the respondents to a recent survey said they expect to receive Social Security benefits.…
Importance of retirement planning beyond Social Security
The average Social Security recipient received $21,924 in 2023. Social Security is the foundation of all retirement plans, but is it enough for you to survive? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average 65-year-old and older spends an…
New Social Security rules for 2024
The new year is approaching rapidly, which means new rules for Social Security. Some of the new rules you will find will be beneficial to recipients and workers, but the other rules are not so much. The beneficial rules for…
What 2024 will look like for the average Social Security recipient
Beginning next month, over 64 million older Americans will see an increase in their Social Security benefits. The cost-of-living (COLA) increase of 3.2 percent is modest compared to last year’s 8.7 percent and a decrease in Medicare Part B premiums.…
Social Security claw back policy numbers
This year, the Social Security Administration has come under scrutiny by Congress and the media for its clawback policy. Social Security clawback policy is when the program, by administrative error, has overpaid recipients; the agency then collects the overpayment by…
What you should know before you collect spousal benefits
Coordinating your benefits with your spouse’s benefits can help you to get the most out of your Social Security payments. Your first step in maximizing your Social Security benefits should be to know the rules. There are three rules you…