Social Security
Found 254 Articles.
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July – August 2011
August 26, 2011 12:45 p.m. Your Retirement Finance Week in Review It’s up to Congress now. That’s the word from Ben Bernanke in his much-anticipated speech Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. A few people circulated rumors earlier in the week that the Fed chairman would announce a new round of quantitative easing, and that caused […]
Staying Ahead of the Scam Artists
Scam artists are creative, always changing their schemes to avoid the latest road blocks put in their paths. For example, the Federal Trade Commission reports that identity theft still is the number one consumer scam complaint, but there are some changes from the past. Since the older segment of the population most often is the […]
Avoiding Key Medicare Traps
Every government program has its technical requirements and details. Make a mistake or overlook a key point, and you lose some benefits or pay a penalty. Medicare is no different, but the consequences of an error can be very expensive. Here are some frequent mistakes to avoid. Medicare wants you to sign up when you’re […]
Boosting Social Security Income
Most people begin taking Social Security retirement benefits at the wrong time. The decision can cost them and their survivors quite a bit of money over their lifetimes. It’s not surprising. Several factors must be considered to make the right choice, and some key elements changed over the years. A majority of people claim Social […]
January 2011
January 31, 2011 09:45 a.m. Egypt and Your Money At the world leaders conference in Davos, Switzerland last week, an interesting comment was made by Kenneth Rogoff, co-author of This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly. Rogoff, who has been saying that it takes a decade or more to begin recovering from a […]
Building a Retirement Income Stream
Maintaining Retirement income is the top priority of more and more retirees. As retirement nears their investment focus shifts from increasing the value of a portfolio to replacing their income stream. With baby boomers entering their retirement years, interest in managing retirement income is, well, booming. The potential for significant capital gains doesn’t interest investors […]
Requiring Annuities for IRAs, 401(k)s?
A rumor I regularly am asked about is that the government is going to require all IRAs and 401(k)s to be invested annuities. Some versions of the rumor go further and say the proposal is to confiscate all these accounts and invest them in annuities or even Social Security. Here’s the real proposal. The Labor […]
Losing a Social Security Option
Social Security is planning to dramatically limit a strategy we’ve discussed in past visits. Though only a few people use it, the use has been climbing and the government wants to put a lid on the growth. The strategy is to pay back the benefits you received and claim a higher level of benefits. Suppose […]
