Free Republic

We’ve all heard the advice: Wait until you’re 70 to claim Social Security and you’ll get the biggest possible monthly check. Tim F., a retired healthcare worker from Arizona, followed this advice to the letter. But now, at 75, he’s having second thoughts. GOBankingRates spoke with Tim to understand why he wishes he’d claimed his benefits earlier. His insights might just change the way you think about your own retirement plans. Tim thought he was doing everything right. “Everything you read says you should wait until 70 if you can,” he shared. “I guess I thought, well, I can, so...

I never invested in stocks. I've been putting my money in CDs, 4-5%. It just keeps growing without even trying. It's just amazing that I have so much because I didn't plan for it. I have about $750,000 in cash, and my home is worth $600,000. I'm from El Salvador and moved in 1946. My first long-term job was working in a bowling alley in 1958. I didn't go to college. For 17 years, I worked in the bowling industry. ..My next job of 27 years was as a scale technician, which I trained myself to do because I knew...

Warren Buffett shocked an arena full of shareholders on Saturday by announcing his intention to retire at the end of the year. Mr Buffett said he will recommend to Berkshire Hathaway’s board that Greg Abel should become chief executive at the end of the year. “I think the time has arrived where Greg should become the chief executive officer of the company at year-end,” Mr Buffett said. The sudden announcement comes after the 94-year-old investor had always insisted he had no plans to retire. Many investors have said they believe Mr Abel will do a good job running Berkshire, but...

Key Points Claiming age impacts your spousal benefits, but the rules are different than those for personal retirement benefits. You must work with your spouse to come up with a smart claiming strategy for the household. Some divorced spouses can still receive spousal benefits based on their ex-partner's earnings record. A lot of time is spent discussing rules and strategies about claiming Social Security to ensure you make the most of the program's benefits. But one feature of the program that might not get enough attention is spousal benefits. Spousal benefits can be a lifeline for seniors who established a...

North Liberty, Iowa — At the weekly senior lunch social in North Liberty, Iowa, chicken was on the menu, but Social Security was top of mind. Iowa, like the U.S., is aging. One in four people in the state is age 60 and older, according to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. Uncertainty in Washington means anxiety here. Anne Bacon tells CBS News the issue gives her "daymares." Bacon relies on the $1,600 a month she receives from Social Security to pay for the 24-hour care of her brother, Rick Clark, who has dementia. "Every day I'm worried...

Turmoil on Wall Street is keeping financial planners’ phones ringing as 401(k) holders watch their retirement account balances fall with the stock markets they’re tied to. For the most part, they’re being told to sit tight and breathe through it. Vanese Pitts said she watched her husband’s 401(k) shed $8,000 on Monday, when a wide-ranging market selloff pushed the S&P 500 to its lowest close since September. The sharp downturn in recent days followed several weeks of losses on Wall Street that have left the stock index about 4.8% lower than where it started the year. Many 401(k)s follow the...

The number of detectives in the NYPD has dropped below 5,000 for the first time since the pandemic – and union leaders warn that 1,600 more gumshoes could retire by the end of the year... There are 4,948 detectives in the NYPD today compared to 7,000 at the staffing peak following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Another 1,676 investigators with at least 19 years or more on the job will be eligible to retire in 2025 ... The Detectives’ Endowment Association said 359 gumshoes have already put in for retirement in the first two months of this year — compared...

The head of the FBI's New York field office resigned Monday afternoon, facing pressure from President Donald Trump's administration. James Dennehy announced his resignation in an email to staff, NBC News reported. His resignation comes after Kash Patel began his first week leading the bureau last week. Before that, Justice Department deputy attorney general, Emil Bove, began a search for all FBI staff who worked on cases around the Jan. 6 attackers. Dennehy clashed with Bove over that probe into the staff.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) touted bringing home the bacon to Kentucky and his “unfinished business” perpetuating a national defense strategy crafted in the 1980s in a Senate floor speech Thursday announcing his retirement. McConnell, who turned 83 Thursday, has been expected to retire following his resignation under pressure as Senate Republican Leader in early 2024, but reports of his upcoming retirement announcement Thursday morning still reverberated across Washington. In his speech, the longtime Senate leader told colleagues, “I’ve only really answered to two constituencies, the Republican Conference and the people of Kentucky.

U.S. Sen. Tina Smith announced Thursday she will retire after next year, opting against a 2026 bid for another six-year term and putting a Democratic-held seat in play in an increasingly competitive Upper Midwest. The decision comes after Smith had been conveying her plan to run again for a seat she has held since 2018. She has won two prior Senate elections, including a 5-percentage-point victory when last on the ballot in 2020. She had more than $700,000 in her campaign account to start the year. "I have loved my job as United States Senator, and also, after 20 years...

Federal employee retirements are processed using paper, by hand, in an old limestone mine in Pennsylvania. 700+ mine workers operate 230 feet underground to process ~10,000 applications per month, which are stored in manila envelopes and cardboard boxes. The retirement process takes multiple months.

Years ago, while studying for my master’s degree in human behavior, I became deeply intrigued by the concept of personal goal setting and how important it is for people to have goals simply in order to stay healthy. What I learned changed my life. Human beings are, by nature, goal seekers. We are the only living creatures who can look into the future and project images of ourselves. Within the context of every other living creature, even the simple act of scheduling a lunch meeting for next week or planning a family get-together is an amazingly complex and miraculous task....

Every year the age when American retirees can begin to claim Social Security benefits without a penalty has been getting higher. Here’s what it is in 2025 The new year will bring a series of changes to Social Security. Every year the Social Security Administration announces a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) which applies to beneficiaries’ payments starting with the disbursement that corresponds to January. The increase this year was 2.5% which will also raise the amount contributors must earn for each Social Security credit, also known as a “quarter of coverage,” as well as the wage cap for Social Security taxes....

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) vented his displeasure Monday after two Democratic-appointed federal judges reversed their decisions to retire in what appear to be efforts to stop President-elect Trump from nominating their successors. McConnell called the unusual decisions to forgo retirement following Trump’s sweeping victory last month a “partisan” gambit that would undermine the integrity of federal courts. “They rolled the dice that a Democrat could replace them and now that he won’t, they’re changing their plans to keep a Republican from doing it,” McConnell said on the Senate floor. “It’s a brazen admission. And the incoming administration would...

The J6 riot was not an insurrection but a protest that escalated into an out-of-control riot because then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund was denied intelligence about potential threats that day and denied National Guard backup that he was begging for. In the cold light of hindsight, a new Trump administration will ensure that the narrative of J6 is rewritten to reflect the truth of that tragic day instead of the lies spun by Democrat Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s J6 committee. Sund is a crucial witness to history. Pelosi made him her scapegoat, firing him immediately, but she knew that he...

Mitch McConnell is retiring, prompting an election in the GOP Senate caucus to select a new leader. For reasons that were not clear to me, Florida’s Rick Scott was the favorite of some MAGA Republicans. But the caucus elected John Thune, who served as Whip under McConnell. In an interview with Breitbart, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson had some strikingly candid comments about the contest for Majority Leader. I have a lot of respect for Johnson, a successful businessman who is serving in politics out of principle and has three times overcome underdog status to win Senate elections in Wisconsin: “John...

As we get older and contemplate the possibility of declining health, many of us worry about becoming a burden on our family members. Among the questions I hear are: Will I have enough money to last? Can I afford the healthcare I’ll need? How can I make it easy for my family to settle my affairs when I’m gone? But what does it mean to not be a burden? What actions should you take now? After discussing the issue with accountants, estate attorneys and clients, I’ve identified five steps to help reduce the likelihood that you will be a burden...

Older workers can now put more savings than ever into their 401(K) accounts, under new rules starting in 2025. Every year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announces the maximum amount savers can put in their workplace retirement account, which is adjusted for inflation. Americans over the age of 50 are also able to put extra cash into their retirement savings with catch-up contributions. From next year, workers specifically between the ages of 60 and 63 will have a higher catch-up contribution limit, the IRS announced Friday. The change is designed to help boost the savings pots of people in their...

This article looks at the 2025 Social Security COLA falls short: discover 11 best states to retire and offset the gap. You may skip our detailed analysis and jump to 2025 Social Security COLA Falls Short: Discover the 5 Best States to Retire and Offset the Gap. 2025 Social Security COLA and Best States to Retire The Social Security Administration will be announcing an official 2025 Social Security Cost-Of-Living-Adjustment (COLA) very soon, following the release of the September Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) on October 10th, 2024. That’s right, the much-anticipated date for an...

If you're aiming to retire at the standard age of 65, buckle up because you're going to want to hear this one. According to a simulated model that factors in things like changes in health, nursing home costs, and demographics, about 45% of Americans who leave the workforce at 65 are likely to run out of money during retirement. The model, run by Morningstar's Center for Retirement and Policy Studies, showed that the risk is higher for single women, who had a 55% chance of running out of money versus 40% for single men and 41% for couples. The group...