Are you planning on delaying your retirement? Workers are trending in that direction. Labor force participation numbers have been increasing over the past two decades, as have average retirement ages.
U.S. Census Bureau information shows that after a short dip to an average retirement age of 62 for men in the 1980s, the average retirement
Social Security
Who doesn’t want more money in their monthly check? Most people do – before and after retirement. Fortunately, there are a few ways in which you may see an increase in your check even after you’ve begun to draw retirement benefits.
Continuing to Work – Your Social Security benefits are calculated from the 35 highest
You’ve just become eligible for Social Security benefits. Are you going to apply for them now, wait until your full retirement age, or delay benefits as long as you possibly can? What if circumstances change, and you determine you would be better off waiting for benefits after filing?
You may be in luck. According to
By Eric Olsen, Executive Director, HELPS Nonprofit Law Firm
It’s a constant struggle to stay afloat financially on disability income. Many disabled persons have credit card debt they can’t pay, often incurred before they were disabled. What can disabled persons do about telephone calls and letters from collectors? What happens if you are sued? As
By Eric Olsen, Executive Director, HELPS Nonprofit Law Firm
Federal law protects Social Security and retirement incomes from garnishment by almost all collectors. But what about the IRS and student loan debts? The IRS and public student loan lenders can and occasionally will garnish 15% of a senior’s Social Security income. There is much information
Do you monitor your Social Security number for any signs of fraudulent use? A new survey suggests you think that you should, but you probably don’t.
According to the 2018 Capital One Credit Protection and Security Survey, only one in seven Americans uses a service to monitor activity on their Social Security number – but
How would you like to retire early? Millennials certainly like the idea, according to a recent survey from Bankrate.com. Millennials identified the perfect retirement age as 61 – a full six years before their full retirement age (FRA) as defined by Social Security and one year before they can even claim reduced Social Security
The term “administrative offset” brings to mind meaningless governmental jargon. It is governmental jargon – but if you are affected, it’s not meaningless at all.
In layman’s terms, administrative offset is the government’s way of applying money that would normally be owed to you (such as tax refunds and certain Social Security benefits) to outstanding
Congratulations! You’re the proud parent of a newborn bundle of joy. Many things are swirling through your head right now, especially if this is your first child.
Acquiring a Social Security Number (SSN) for your child is probably not near the top of your priority list, and it probably shouldn’t be – but don’t let
Retirement has finally arrived. You’re ready to start drawing on your retirement income sources. Enjoy this new phase of your life.
Unfortunately, you haven’t been able to retire from taxes – and your taxes will enter a new phase as well. You don’t have an employer to hold out taxes on your salary anymore. You’re
Are you counting on Social Security for most of your retirement funds – and if so, how comfortable are you that the funds will be there at retirement? According to the recent Transamerica Retirement Survey of Workers, you probably aren’t comfortable at all.
A surprising 76% of survey respondents are concerned that Social Security won’t
Let’s face it: Americans are woefully unprepared for retirement. Surveys consistently tell us that far too many workers have insufficient retirement funds or even absolutely nothing saved for retirement at all. Sadly, these workers will be too dependent on Social Security benefits to have a comfortable retirement.
Many of these workers will claim benefits before
April is National Social Security Month! Your Social Security Number (SSN) may be your most important piece of identification – yet it’s likely that you never carry your Social Security card with you. You probably committed your number to memory long ago because it’s required in so many places.
Generally, you won’t need to produce
America’s collective readiness for retirement is improving, according to Fidelity’s latest Retirement Savings Assessment study. The study distills America’s retirement readiness into a single score representing the percentage of estimated retirement income that the average saver will require.
According to the current study, America’s combined retirement score is 80 – meaning that the average American
If you have done your homework leading into retirement, you probably already know that Social Security benefits may be subject to federal taxes under certain circumstances. Did you know that some states also impose taxes on Social Security?
Currently there are thirteen states that impose at least some tax on the benefits of Social Security
You Can’t Decide Without Facts When should you claim your Social Security benefits? Should you claim them on your own work record or on your spouse’s work record? Those relatively simple questions can become very complex in certain cases.
Fortunately, there are Social Security Administration (SSA) offices throughout the nation with staff waiting to help.
War is coming. This one will not be a traditional type of war. This conflict will be fought inside the borders of the United States, between foes of different birth-years armed with little more than outrage and hyperbole. The point of this war isn’t land or power. The purpose of this battle is to affix
No matter if you’re starting your career or approaching its end, you should be thinking about retirement. How am I getting ready? How much should I save? How should I invest? Am I being too aggressive, or too passive?
But perhaps a bigger question is, “Am I thinking about retirement at all?” In an exclusive
A Million Ways to Retire, 292 Ways to Plan for It America’s strategies for retirement run the gamut, from meticulously planned to none at all. Hopefully, your plan is more detailed than lottery tickets and blind luck – but what’s the best strategy for you? Is there even such a thing as a preferred retirement
As can be seen from yesterday’s example, an individual desiring $4,000 of monthly net income in retirement can need in excess of a $1,000,000 retirement portfolio to supplement his or her Social Security and pension income. As can be verified by this calculation, there are many factors to determining the retirement “nest egg” that must
I find when meeting with individuals for the first time that they typically have no idea how much they will need to be able to retire. The typical answer of $1 million is absolutely worthless since everyone has different income requirements and different income sources that must be added into the equation when determining when
Social Security is a critical component of the retirement plans of many Americans, making it critical to keep up with annual changes in the program. None of the changes for 2018 are as substantial as the recent tax code overhaul, but it still pays to review the changes at the beginning of the year to
In the discussion of Social Security, little is more unproductive and contentious than the assertion that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. It marks the point where the discussion stops and the fight begins.
Is Social Security a Ponzi scheme? That entirely depends upon your meaning of the phrase.
If you use the term loosely
Could you afford to give away $300,000 in retirement? Very few of us could give up such a sum and retire comfortably – but according to one financial expert, you could leave that much on the table by choosing the wrong strategy to claim your Social Security benefits.
Ron Carson, a Certified Financial Planner and
As a retiree, how do you plan to spend your Christmas? You may be visiting or hosting family for the holiday, preparing for a special vacation, or simply relaxing and enjoying your pastimes and hobbies. Whatever you choose to do, make some time before the holiday begins to assess your finances and avoid potential tax
How can you retire with $1 million in assets? It’s easy… if you start with $3 million! All kidding aside, the best answer is to make a plan that achieves the savings necessary to get to $1 million. We can help you formulate that plan using the following seven tips.
1. Make Saving and Budgeting
You have been diligent about saving for retirement, planning your expenses wisely and taking advantage of 401(k)s, IRAs, and other tax-deferred savings programs, but have you managed your Social Security benefits in the same fashion? Did you even know that you could sign up for an account to help you with that management task? If
Every October, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announces adjustments that are made to the Social Security program for the upcoming year. What effect will these changes for 2018 have on you?
More Money for Beneficiaries – Social Security beneficiaries receive cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) based on one of the standard measures of inflation – the Consumer
If you’re planning a second march down the aisle, besides the bridal gown color and the honeymoon, you also need to address how your remarriage will affect your Social Security benefits. Allow us to present four different ways as our early wedding gift to you.
Widow/Widower Benefits – If you have been receiving benefits based
Two years ago, the Supreme Court established the constitutional right of same-sex couples to marry in every state in the U.S. with its ruling in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges. In turn, this decision enabled Social Security’s marital benefits to apply to same-sex couples.
The ruling affects the benefits options related to you and