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Choosing when to collect Social Security retirement benefits is a consequential decision. It will affect your finances for the rest of your life. You’ll be able to claim reduced retirement benefits as early as 62.In fact, in 2022, nearly 30 percent of new Social Security beneficiaries began receiving benefits at age 62, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. The full retirement age (FRA) for those born in 1960 or later is 67, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA). Although you can claim the benefits early, there are drawbacks. And one of them relates to any continued employment.Social Security Earnings...

Oil prices have risen to more than $100 a barrel amid escalating conflict with Iran, pushing fuel prices up by more than 20% in just one month. Of course, this is bad news for U.S. consumers. But could it be good news for retirees? The latest estimates from the Senior Citizens League call for a 2.8% Social Security COLA in 2027 — the exact same raise beneficiaries received this year. But this estimate was made before the Iran situation disrupted global oil supplies. And there’s a chance it could make the 2027 COLA much higher.

I’m old enough to remember when Al Gore coined the term “lockbox” as a euphemism for how he was going to protect the Social Security surplus. The year was 2000, and Gore was the incumbent Vice President, campaigning for the presidency. His administration had just recorded a budget surplus of $236 billion, the largest in American history still to this day. More than two-thirds of the surplus, or $160 billion, was created by the revenue from Social Security taxes exceeding payments to Social Security recipients. Vice President Gore wanted to save that Social Security surplus for the future, while his...

How's this for a somber retirement forecast: The typical American worker has less than $1,000 saved for retirement, according to a new report from the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS). "The data are clear: Outside of high earners, Americans are choosing survival over savings and hoping to catch up later," NIRS executive director Dan Doonan told Yahoo Finance. "Even for those approaching retirement age — 55-to-64-year-olds — the median amount saved for retirement is only $30,000. We're looking at a looming crisis. These aren't just statistics — they represent millions of families who are doing everything right but still...

America’s largest retirement safety net is facing renewed financial pressure, and the timeline is tightening. A new projection suggests Social Security’s core retirement fund could run out of full funding sooner than previously expected, raising fresh questions about benefit cuts, tax changes, and what this means for millions of Americans planning their financial future. According to the latest analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, the Old Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund is now projected to be depleted in 2032. That is one year earlier than previous estimates and highlights the growing urgency for policymakers to address the program’s long...

The Trump Administration has told states to stop the long-standing practice of taking Social Security benefit checks from some children and youth in foster care. In a letter to governors, sent in early December, Alex Adams, an assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told states to end what he calls "the orphan tax." Adams, who oversees federal child welfare policy, told states to quit taking Social Security survivor benefits from children in foster care. The monthly benefit is paid to a child whose mother or father has died but had worked and paid Social Security...

A $6,000 deduction is now law for some older Americans who receive Social Security benefits, a centerpiece of a major new bill signed by President Donald Trump. Promoted as historic relief, the reality is more complex, less generous, and comes with a significant long-term price tag that could undermine the very system it purports to help.

Last month, I wrote about how Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) introduced a non-binding resolution, asking the House of Representatives to condemn socialism in the wake of New York City electing Zohran Mamdani as its next mayor. It was more theater than anything, but it was also a chance for the House to show the people of the United States — well, most of us anyway — that they stand in solidarity with us in wanting to keep socialism out of our country. It was the opportunity to show that they still support the American dream and values. Advertisement Only...

The House of Representatives passed multiple bills targeting the Social Security Administration’s services for potential retirees, for victims of identity theft, and for children whose cards were stolen or lost. On Monday, the House passed the Claiming Age Clarity Act, which will change “certain terms that are used by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to describe the ages at which a worker may claim Social Security retirement benefits,” according to the bill. The SSA under the measure will have to use the term “minimum monthly benefit age” instead of “early eligibility age,” the text of the measure said. “This refers...

For decades, people have fretted about the financial sustainability of America's bedrock retirement income program. Now, Social Security's precarious fiscal state is an issue for the here and now. * How to fix it is set to be a defining political fight of the next several years, with millions of Americans' benefits and the fiscal future of the United States at stake. Why it matters: There is a tug-of-war between the benefits future retirees receive and the taxes that working-age people pay. Something has to give, and surprisingly soon. The big picture: The Social Security retirement fund is set to...

For millions of Americans relying on Social Security, small changes to the formula that calculates annual benefit increases can have an outsized impact. Social Security checks are a cornerstone of retirement income for over 50 million Americans, and Congress is now considering legislation that could reshape how those benefits adjust for inflation. It comes as Americans of all ages continue to navigate rising costs. In October, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that benefits would grow by 2.8 percent in 2026 through the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). Yet for many retirees, even modest increases barely keep pace with the real...

For many young Americans, the 2008 financial crisis was more than a downturn; it was a defining life event. Families lost homes to predatory mortgages, jobs vanished overnight, and college graduates faced bleak opportunities. For organizers like Gabe Tobias, watching low-income immigrant families lose everything to adjustable-rate mortgages was transformative. The crisis convinced many that capitalism itself was stacked against working people, a belief that would later fuel their political activism, the Wall Street Journal reported… Polling shows that socialism resonates strongly with younger Americans. A YouGov survey this year found 62% of people aged 18 to 29 held a...

Just information. The SSA website has an announcement at the bottom of the page. lol

Over the last 20 years, the Social Security COLA has averaged 2.6%, according to The Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan senior group.

Almost all Americans say they are planning to ignore a key piece of Social Security advice, which means they will miss out on higher monthly payments. Only 10 percent of those still working plan to wait until they are 70 before they start claiming benefits, according to findings from investment firm Schroders. Americans can begin claiming Social Security as early as 62, but doing so permanently reduces their monthly payments. To receive a full retirement benefit, workers must wait until their full retirement age, which stands at 67. However every year after full retirement age that Americans delay claiming Social...

Video at link.

(...) Kraus ran as a Democrat and declared he was running for president to dissolve the presidency. He proposed breaking the country up into four regions, "to break the control of the Deep State, British agents, Rhodes scholars, and the Jews," according to the Globe story. His campaign website was banjews.com, according to a short profile posted to the website of Temple University's Klein College of Media and Communication. (...) "They had just planted tomatoes," Calabrese recalled of the last time she saw them about eight years ago. "And then they were gone the next day." (...)

Transitioning Social Security: Lessons from the GI BillThe GI Bill provides a valuable example of how a large government benefit program can be restructured over time without breaking commitments to those already enrolled. When the GI Bill was updated, existing veterans retained their full benefits, while new recruits gradually began contributing toward their education benefits. This phased approach balanced fairness with fiscal responsibility.Why Change Social Security?Social Security, as it currently stands, faces significant financial challenges. With an aging population, longer life expectancies, and a shrinking ratio of workers to beneficiaries, the system’s trust fund is projected to be depleted within...

Ninety years ago, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, which created the program that now sends monthly benefit checks to millions of Americans, including retirees, disabled individuals and families. But by the time the program celebrates its centennial, benefits may not look the same as today’s Social Security payments. The reason: Social Security’s trust funds, which the program relies on to help pay benefits, are facing a looming shortfall. Starting in 2033 — two years before its 100th anniversary — the program may only be able to pay 77% of scheduled benefits for retirees, their families and...

The specter of Obama still lurks in Washington. It’s awful how lefties fear-monger about Social Security, but that doesn’t mean it’s not in trouble. It is. We all know it is. Just not how the left portrays it. It’s just groaning under its own weight and sooner or later, likely sooner, the Hill is going to have to tackle it. Being the pedantic, unoriginal cowards that they are, they’ll likely look to the past for how to do it. What’s back there? Obama. Obama showed them how they might do it. Let’s take a walk down memory lane. Your money,...