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Social Security and You: Spousal and Survivors Benefits for Men

In the past 27 years, I bet I have written hundreds of columns explaining spousal and widows benefits that are available to women on a husband's Social Security account. And usually if I have enough space, I try to squeeze in a line that says the same benefits are available to husbands and widowers, even though I know those benefits to men are ...Read more

Social Security and You: You Are Being Paid Properly

In my 32 years of experience working for the Social Security Administration and the 27 years I've been writing this column, one of the more common complaints I've heard from people goes something like this: "I don't think I am getting the right Social Security benefit amount. It's less than it should be." Or like this: "Based on what all my ...Read more

Social Security and You: Book Updates

Over the past couple of months, hundreds of you have written to me because you've had trouble getting my book called "Social Security: Simple and Smart" from Amazon. And other times, the problem was that you wanted to get the 2024 edition of the book and you were sent a prior edition.

I won't bother sharing with you the tales of woe my ...Read more

Social Security and You: That's Not What I Meant To Say

I've always taken pride in the fact that I do a pretty good job of explaining Social Security rules in simple and easy-to-understand language. But every once in a while, I'm reminded that something I say or write that I think is pretty clear and simple can be misinterpreted. Here are some examples.

Q: I am 62 and have spent most of my life as a...Read more

Social Security and You: Geezers, Floozies and Valentines

This column should be coming out around Valentine's Day. And it was 50 years ago, on Valentine's Day, that my soon-to-be wife and I went out on our first date. How that came about makes for a cute story.

I had just started working for the Social Security office in the small farming community of Litchfield, Illinois. I had moved there from my ...Read more

Social Security and You: Retirees With 'Disabled Adult Children'

This is going to be a column about DACs. And what's that? It's the abbreviation the Social Security Administration uses to refer to "disabled adult children." Here is some background.

Since almost the beginning of the Social Security program in the 1930s, minor children have qualified for benefits on a retiree's record. A child gets an amount ...Read more

Social Security and You: How Your Retirement Benefit Is Calculated

Q. Even though I'm not on Social Security, I've been reading your column for years. A while back, I had clipped out a column you wrote explaining how benefits are figured. And now that I'm getting ready to file for benefits, I can't find that column. Can you please reprint it? And I also have a question. I do recall that you said a benefit is ...Read more

Social Security and You: What We Expect From Government

I have been writing this column since 1997. So this will be my 27th year of helping people better understand all the intricacies of the various Social Security programs. But I was recently reminded I've been doing that a long longer. While cleaning out my desk, I discovered a folder of newspaper columns I wrote way back in the 1980s while ...Read more

Social Security and You: Not All Bureaucrats Work For the Government

Well, this week I learned that not all bureaucrats work for the government. They can be found in any organization anywhere, in the public sector and the private sector. They are there anytime rules need to be enforced. And in today's column, I'll ponder if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Here's the story. This year, my wife and I will be ...Read more

Social Security and You: Women and Social Security -- Common Misunderstandings

Whether you're a man or woman, Social Security rules can sometimes be confusing and hard to understand. Today I'm going to go over some common misunderstandings that women have about their eligibility for benefits. And almost all these misunderstandings have to do with benefits they might be due from a spouse in addition to their own Social ...Read more

Social Security and You: Turning Full Retirement Age in 2024? Consider Filing for Benefits This Month

I write a column similar to this one every January. But I don't mind plagiarizing myself because it contains a very important message for people planning to retire in 2024.

January is a critical month for the hundreds of thousands of potential Social Security beneficiaries who are reaching their full retirement age in 2024. The important ...Read more

Social Security and You: Social Security Update for 2024

It has been my custom for most of the past 27 years to write a year-end column that summarizes the Social Security updates scheduled to take place the following year. I already discussed some of these updates in a column back in October when they were first announced, but it doesn't hurt to repeat them here. (They all grow out of the annual cost...Read more

Social Security and You: Medicare and the 'Temporarily Rich'

Before I write today's column, there are two important and seemingly unrelated observations I must make.

No. 1: Regular readers of this column know that I don't like to write about Medicare. Why? Because I'm a Social Security expert, but not much of a Medicare expert.

No. 2: It seems like there are a lot of rich (or temporarily rich) baby ...Read more

 

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