Free Republic

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...

Several high-ranking Secret Service agents are stepping down just before the public release of an internal investigation into the failures that led to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, PA on July 13. Among the findings of the report is the revelation that agents did not instruct local police to secure the rooftop of the building where the gunman positioned himself, two anonymous sources have revealed to the Washington Post. Mike Plati, the assistant director of the Office of Protective Operations, officially retired on Friday, according to a statement from the Secret Service. John Buckley, a senior executive...

It will come as no surprise to the regulars around here that I have soured to the point where I can barely pucker up to the work being done by our corporate, national media these days. My love affair with the profession I gave most of my life to has ended in hurt and disappointment. Our national press too often presents as incompetent fools who are more interested in being led around by the nose than they are in sniffing out stories, including the biggest one of our lives. Our democracy is under attack RIGHT NOW in America, but I...

As of January 1, 2024, Social Security ended a spousal rule that allowed recipients to switch between their benefits and their spouse's to receive the maximum amount. The only people who can still take advantage of this rule are those who turned 70 on January 1, 2024, or were born before January 1, 1954. Under the expired rule, the higher-earning spouse would claim spousal benefits at full retirement age while the other spouse claimed their benefit. The higher earner would then switch to their benefits at age 70, which maximizes the monthly Social Security payment because of the delayed retirement...

Labor economist Teresa Ghilarducci says work is the new retirement. She blames "policymakers who experimented with our retirement system 40 years ago, and they are not saying the experiment failed." That experiment is what is known today as the 401K, named after part of a 1978 law that offered companies an alternative to the traditional pension plan.

A Minnesota retirement system for public school teachers under Gov. Tim Walz is “cooking the books” by vastly underreporting annual fees paid to Wall Street investment managers — and posting near-impossible gains tantamount to a “Madoff miracle,” a top pension investigator said. The state-run Teachers Retirement Association, or TRA, has publicly disclosed less than 10% of an estimated $2.9 billion spent on fees in the past 10 years, said Edward Siedle, a former Security and Exchange Commission lawyer and independent pension investigator. The TRA also posted gains claiming it beat its own custom benchmark over periods of one, five, 10,...

Reports have surfaced that Justice Samuel Alito, a conservative voice on the Supreme Court, is considering retirement. Justice Alito, recognized as one of the more conservative members of the Court, was appointed by President George W. Bush and took his seat in January 2006. At 74, he is the second-oldest justice currently serving on the bench, after Clarence Thomas, who is 76. His alleged reflections on retirement come amidst ongoing attacks by the Democrats.

It seems like we see a new one of these "best and worst places for Americans to retire" analyses every month. They are all different, and all of their conclusions reveal, very plainly, the presumptions and attitudes of the organizations that complete such studies.So when a new piece emerged Saturday on the best and worst states for Americans to retire, I took a look at it. And the conclusions are... mixed.Bankrate, headquartered in New York City, evaluated all 50 states on data points to help determine where people might spend their golden years.Some of the factors include living costs, health...

One southern city has become a boomer boomtown thanks to an influx of older Americans flocking to its age-restricted, bustling community. Georgetown, Texas is officially the fastest-growing city in the country in part due to its wealthy 55-and-older community called Sun City Texas. An analysis of Census Bureau data for cities with populations of at least 50,000 by The Wall Street Journal found Georgetown has now been the top city for population growth for three years in a row. Georgetown grew 11 percent in 2023, 14 percent in 2022 and 11 percent in 2021. The median age in the boomer-rich...

Agnes P. saved every penny she could for retirement. Now at 78, she’s got more money than she knows what to do with, but fewer happy memories than she’d like. “I was so focused on saving that I forgot to actually live,” Agnes said. Her story shows why being too frugal can backfire. Her entire life, Agnes watched what she spent. Growing up without a lot of money instilled the idea that she had to save every penny. She packed lunches, kept her old car, and rarely took time off. While her friends were taking vacations, Agnes put every extra...

Twelve months of heavy resistance training—exercise that makes muscles work against force—around the time of retirement preserves vital leg strength years later, show the follow-up results of a clinical trial, published online. Resistance training can help to counteract this loss, but most of the published research has involved relatively short periods of time (6-9 months) to monitor its effects. The researchers therefore wanted to know whether a year of supervised resistance training with heavy loads would make any difference over the longer term. At the time, participants who had recently retired and were healthy. They were randomly assigned either to...

In the coming years, the retirement-age population will balloon to its largest size yet, drawing down Social Security funds, overwhelming retirement homes, and leaving a labor shortage in its wake. Larry Fink, the 71-year-old CEO of the asset-management behemoth BlackRock, offered a two-part solution to the looming retirement crisis in his annual March letter to shareholders. In order to avoid economic catastrophe, he argued, people should save more money and work longer. "What if the government and the private sector treated 60-plus year-olds as late-career workers with much to offer rather than people who should retire?" Fink wrote. The current...