Social Security

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...

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 percent...

The poor, the elderly, the disabled, college students and environmental protections all stand to take a big hit if Congress approves President Donald Trump’s $4.1 trillion budget for fiscal year 2018. Defense contractors, corporations in general and the wealthiest Americans all stand to gain...

With the Republicans in control of Capitol Hill, the outlook for Social Security in its current iteration is uncertain as many party members argue for sweeping reforms to Social Security to reduce government spending. Add to that the unreliability of President-elect Donald Trump's rhetoric...

The Social Security and Medicare trustees’ annual report released Wednesday shows that Social Security will find its funds exhausted in by 2034. What This Really Means Social Security is divided into two trust funds: one for retirees and one for disability benefits. The “exhaustion...

For many Americans, social security may be their largest — if not only — source of income in retirement. However, the ins and outs of how retirement income works, how much income can be expected and how feasible the reality of maintaining current lifestyles are not always that clear....

The statistics are all around, and the accompanying headlines tell a bleak story. It's probable that the Sandwich Generation is uncomfortably underprepared for retirement. According to an Insured Retirement Institute study, 31 percent of Sandwichers who are still employed do not have a retirement...

If you are among those planning to retire in the New Year, there are a few things you should know now. While it is impossible to determine exactly how many people will retire in any given year, it is possible to note trends across the aging demographics. Although the average age of retirement...

Regardless of where you are in the personal retirement budgeting journey, one thing remains constant: You have an incalculable amount of control over how your retirement years play out. Whether you are looking to spend the years after your 65th birthday in "traditional" retirement...

Although the present day hoopla over retirement is certainly cause for much financial concern, particularly among older Americans, retirement has not always been such a hotly contended subject – retirement has only within recent memory been a tangible concept at all. When considering retirement...