Social Security
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…
Dealing With Hypocrisy: A Rebuttal to Complaints About Medicare Premiums and WEP/GPO
Creators Syndicates’ Tom Margenau, in a post on Tucson.com, uses his extensive experience as a Social Security Administration official to address two fundamental (and frequently recurring) complaints voiced by program beneficiaries questioning rulers that, in their opinion, are unjust. Margenau…
Social Security, Economic Stability, and the Relationship to Senior Women
A post today on the National Women’s Law Center website examines the role that Social Security benefits play in ensuring the financial support of women in their retirement years. Specifically, the article explains that while women comprise more than half…
There’s a clear advantage to claiming Social Security at a certain age.
Are you aware that the age you file for your Social Security benefits matters? You can start receiving your Social Security retirement benefits as early as age 62 but at a reduced amount. However, if you delay taking your benefits…
Social Security comes with its own rules and stipulations
Retirement planning involves coordinating your retirement savings vehicles, such as pensions, annuities, 401(k), IRAs, Thrift Savings Plans, and Social Security. Most individuals who have paid FICA taxes on their wages may qualify for Social Security benefits based on their own…
Op-ed: Lies caused the Social Security crisis
“Equities for me, but not for thee” is the best quote from this op-ed by Brent Arends. He pens a sort of “what if” Social Security funds had been invested in higher yielding equities over low performing Treasuries since that…