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There's a Social Security benefits cliff looming, with retirees seeing their checks garnished as soon as 2035. According to the latest federal Social Security report, the program has just enough funding to send out monthly checks to elderly and disabled Americans for 13 years. Beyond that, a 20% reduction in benefits is needed for the program to be sustainable. "In the coming decades it will be vital for Congress to take steps to put Social Security and Medicare on solid financial footing for the long term," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement on the Social Security report.

The ‘retirement ideal’ has been changing for years. Older people are increasingly unretiring, changing the shape of this life stage.Picture retirement in your head. It’s a laughing, grey-haired couple sipping piña coladas on a white sand beach; perhaps they’re getting some liquid courage for their sky dive later. Not a care in the world, their only responsibility is getting their grandchildren good gifts for their birthdays. It’s a beautiful fantasy – and for many retirees, present and future, it’s just that: a fantasy. The concept of retirement as we know it is changing, and has been for a long time....

Social Security will live to see another year before its trust funds cumulatively run out of money, and Medicare Part A’s trust fund depletion date gained another two years – but the clock is still ticking for the government to fix the insolvency issue. Without any changes in the next 13 years, Social Security beneficiaries can expect to see a 20% cut to their Social Security checks in 2035, according to the Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees report released on Thursday. For Medicare Part A beneficiaries, the cut is 10% to their scheduled benefits. The Old-Age and Survivors...

We cannot believe this has happened. We sent business correspondence to our local U.S. Social Security Administration office two weeks ago by certified mail, return receipt requested. The documents were received by the Office, as we received the green Cert Mail card in return verifying same. Included in the envelope we had sent to SSA was an official SSA form whose instructions were to return the form to the local SSA office. Along with the SSA form was a detailed cover letter, and documentation SSA requested confirming legal status. Ten days later, we received an envelope in the mail from...

Seniors and other people who rely on Social Security benefits could next year see their biggest cost-of-living adjustment since 1981, with an advocacy group for older Americans forecasting an 8.6% hike. The typical monthly Social Security check is about $1,658, which means beneficiaries could see an increase of $142.60 per month in early 2023, bringing the average check to about $1,800, according to a new forecast from the Senior Citizens League.

The inevitable bankruptcy of the Social Security system prompted Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) to propose cutting the pensions of youthful workers as "the best way out of our dilemma. This would preserve the incomes of those already drawing Social Security by shifting the burden to those who will still be in the workforce for several more decades." "The political benefit of this approach is that it won't produce a backlash from those currently dependent on these benefits," he explained. "At the same time, the age cohort that will suffer is probably not even aware of whats going on." The Senator...

Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah suggested that he'd favor cutting retirement benefits for younger Americans in a bid to stabilize safety net programs. "If we're ever going to get a handle on our debt, we're gonna have to find a way to either increase revenue, which I don't favor, or find a way to adjust our long-term benefits not for current retirees," he said at a Senate Budget Committee hearing on Wednesday, seemingly ruling out any tax hikes. "But for younger people coming along, we got to be able to find a way to balance these programs or we're gonna...

Millions of seniors today rely on Social Security as a critical source of retirement income. And chances are, many future retirees will depend heavily on those benefits as well. But Social Security is facing its share of financial challenges that could have devastating consequences for current and future retirees alike. And if lawmakers don't intervene, the results could be downright catastrophic. There's a serious revenue shortfall at play Social Security primarily relies on payroll taxes (the ones we all hate paying) to stay afloat. But in the coming years, that income stream is expected to shrink. That's because baby boomers...

Should Income Tax Be Paid on Social Security?

Pushing back on recent pro-worker populism on the Right, the American Enterprise Institute's Michael Strain writes that "workers need a growth-and-participation agenda." The addition of the word "participation" to traditional pro-growth ideas is especially important today. Millions of pages of study and commentary have rightly made the case that economic growth lifts all boats. But while necessary, economic growth without the removal of existing government barriers to work and entrepreneurship won't be sufficient. It can't cure the participation crisis that traps many workers and lower-income Americans. In addition to the money we make through our jobs, most of us find...

(The opinions expressed in guest op-eds are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of RedState.com.)Most Americans know they are able to claim benefits from Social Security at any age between 62 and 70, where claiming later in life results in higher monthly checks, but fewer of them. Unfortunately, most are unaware that early retirement is by and large a bad decision for the individual, and a poor choice to offer workers approaching retirement.It is a 50-year-old solution to a 50-year-old problem, shaping the way people retire today.By way of background, the rules for early retirement...

OUTSIDE THE BOX CORRECTION: Social Security would need to cut benefits across the board by 22% when it hits insolvency in 2034, according to the latest trustees report. An earlier version gave it as 24%. There was no error in the table. There is one fact about Social Security on which all policy analysts agree: the longer Congress waits, the harder it will be to fix the program’s finances. The extension of that axiom is: every dollar of delay today costs future Americans — whether workers or retirees — more than a dollar to fix. Over the past two years,...

It's a good goal to retire with your mortgage paid off so you don't have mortgage payments hanging over your head while you're on a more fixed income in retirement. It can also be very helpful to not have your Social Security benefits taxed. Fully 37 states -- plus the District of Columbia -- don't tax Social Security benefits. See whether your state does -- and if so, if it taxes benefit holders in a meaningful way. SNIP Here are the 37 states that do not tax your Social Security benefits: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii...

We are on the cusp of a retirement crisis that will affect everyone. Far too many promises have been made and the demographics we face do not bode well for a bright future. The answer that some people tout is we should have more children or open the borders. This is based on the idea we need more workers and ignores many other factors feeding into this issue. There is simply no way “more children” or workers can ever pay enough into the system to fulfill the promises that have been made. The competition for programs from the government to...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of a Senate panel that oversees Medicare says the Biden administration should use its legal authority to cut back a hefty premium increase soon hitting millions of enrollees, as a growing number of Democratic lawmakers call for action amid worries over rising inflation. Last month, Medicare announced one of the largest increases ever in its “Part B” monthly premium for outpatient care, nearly $22, from $148.50 currently to $170.10 starting in January. The agency attributed roughly half the hike, about $11 a month, to the need for a contingency fund to cover Aduhelm, a new...

Key PointsSocial Security provides a periodic cost of living adjustment.Seniors will see their benefits increase by 5.9% in 2022.The rising costs of five necessities could mean the COLA may not provide much extra buying power.Social Security benefit checks will be much larger next year for retirees. Seniors receiving retirement benefits are entitled to annual cost of living adjustments (COLAs) to help maintain their buying power. The 2022 COLA will provide older Americans with a 5.9% benefit increase.While this may seem like a lot of extra money, the sad reality is that rising prices in some key areas are likely to...

Millions of retirees on Social Security will get a 5.9% boost in benefits for 2022. The biggest cost-of-living adjustment in 39 years follows a burst in inflation as the economy struggles to shake off the drag of the coronavirus pandemic. The COLA, as it's commonly called, amounts to $92 a month for the average retired worker, according to estimates released Wednesday by the Social Security Administration. That marks an abrupt break from a long lull in inflation that saw cost-of-living adjustments averaging just 1.65% a year over the past 10 years. With the increase, the estimated average Social Security payment...

Seniors and other Americans receiving Social Security benefits in 2022 will see the largest increase in their payments in four decades, reflecting surging inflation during the pandemic. Next year’s cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, will be 5.9%, the Social Security Administration said Wednesday. The increase will translate to an addition of $92 to retirees’ average monthly benefit next year, bringing the amount to $1,657. The nearly 6% cost-of-living adjustment is the largest since 1982, according to Social Security Administration data. The adjustment is calculated based on the Labor Department’s measure of inflation faced by blue-collar workers. The Social Security Administration also...

Rising inflation is expected to lead to a sizeable increase in Social Security's annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for 2022. Exactly how much will be revealed Wednesday morning after a Labor Department report on inflation during September, a data point used in the final calculation. Over the last 10 years, the Social Security COLA has averaged about 1.7% annually as inflation remained low. But the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic has triggered rising prices for a wide range of goods and services, and that's expected to translate to bigger checks for retirees. Policymakers say the COLA works to preserve...

“A default could potentially — but not necessarily — delay the payment of Social Security benefits, which reach about 65 million Americans in some form,” the Times said. “It could also delay payments to government contractors, including hospitals that accept patients who use Medicare and Medicaid benefits.” A default would also have effects that trickle down further, including to state-run programs, as well as the expanded child tax credit. The next scheduled payment from that is October 15, which is before the possible default date, although another payment is due November 15.