Making The Most of Social Security - ABCs

10/10/2024

Follow these steps to include your new name on your Social Security record.

09/30/2024

What does Social Security's expected shortfall mean for retirees' benefits if Congress doesn't act?

08/20/2024

Social Security's finances have improved slightly in the last year. But the popular retirement program still faces big challenges including the threat of automatic benefit cuts in less than a decade.

08/20/2024

An in-depth look at the current status and long-term stability of benefits that provide retirees with a substantial portion of their monthly income.

08/20/2024

The Social Security trust fund reserves will be exhausted by 2034.

10/27/2020

SOCIAL SECURITY payments will grow by 1.3% in 2021. The program will also be adjusted in several important ways that could affect the Social Security payments you receive or how much you pay into the system.
Get ready for these Social Security changes coming in 2021:

Here's what the Social Security COLA for 2021 means for you.

10/09/2020

Social Security Will Be Insolvent in Only 15 Years. Under current law, Social Security cannot guarantee full benefits for current retirees. The Trustees project that the theoretical combined trust funds will exhaust their reserves by 2035, when today’s 52-year-olds reach the full retirement age and today’s youngest retirees turn 77. Upon insolvency, all beneficiaries will face a 21 percent across-the-board benefit cut that will ultimately grow to 27 percent. The current crisis will almost certainly advance the date of insolvency by several years.

Today, the Social Security Trustees released their annual report, showing that Social Security faces a precarious and worsening financial situation – even before accounting for the current public health crisis. The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is likely to further worsen the program’s f...

05/08/2020

In what appears to be another misstep, the Internal Revenue Service has been sending out stimulus checks to deceased individuals.

How to properly return the payment.

04/21/2020

YOUR ANNUAL EARNINGS determine the amount you will receive from Social Security in retirement. But incorrect or omitted earnings could cause you to miss out on thousands of dollars in retirement benefits. It's up to individual employees to spot mistakes and take action to correct them.

Here's how to find and fix Social Security errors:

Here's what to do if you spot an error on your Social Security statement.

02/05/2020

The cost of living adjustment (COLA) will increase Social Security benefits by 1.6 percent in 2020, an average of about $24 per month for individuals, the Social Security Administration announced Wednesday.

The increase for 2020 is notably less than the 2.8 percent bump received this year, but higher than the average over the past decade (1.4 percent).

The COLA will boost the average Social Security retirement benefit for a single person by $288 per year. The average retirement check is expected to be $1,479 in December 2019 before the COLA raises the benefit to $1,503 a month later, according to the administration.

Social Security benefits will increase 1.6 percent in 2020, boosting the average benefit for a single person $288 per year to $1,503 starting January.

01/27/2020

Social Security, the largest government program in the world, is projected to pay out $950 billion in benefits for older Americans and another $150 billion on Social Security disability payments this year, according to The Washington Post...

January is a good time for a refresher on some interesting, up-to-date 2020 Social Security facts, figures and projections.

10/30/2019

Baby boomers turning full retirement age in 2019 are the last class that can take advantage of a valuable Social Security strategy. The strategy lets a beneficiary restrict an application to spousal benefits only, giving the beneficiary some Social Security income now while allowing his or her own retirement benefit to grow 8% a year until age 70. If you are a boomer who qualifies, it behooves you to take a good look at when you and your spouse will claim benefits. “It is a way to get a little extra income for four years,” says Judith Ward, senior financial planner for T. Rowe
Price...

If you're a boomer turning 66 in 2019, you should take advantage of this claiming strategy to boost your retirement income.