iPhone app iPad app Android phone app Android tablet app

Social Security Benefits

Not All Social Security Advice Is Good Advice

Laurence J. Kotlikoff | Posted 05.07.2013 | Business
Laurence J. Kotlikoff

The maximum, not the expected age of life is the only appropriate planning horizon. Stated differently, we need to plan to live to the last possible date for the simple reason that we might.

Why Is Chained CPI important? It's Not -- A Better Way to Fix Social Security

Susan Rhea | Posted 04.29.2013 | Politics
Susan Rhea

For the COLA, instead of an annual percent increase, which rewards some hugely and others not so much, we should determine a fixed amount of increase, and assign everyone that same increase.

Places With The Highest Social Security Rates

U.S. News And World Report | Posted 04.27.2013 | Fifty

Workers pay 6.2 percent of their earnings into the Social Security system and employers pay a matching amount up to $113,700 in 2013. Workers who earn...

What's Wrong With Social Security?

Bob Burnett | Posted 04.28.2013 | Politics
Bob Burnett

For 58 million Americans, the Social Security system works satisfactorily. Therefore, many were surprised when President Obama suggested a fix, using the chained CPI for the cost-of-living adjustment. What's wrong with the Social Security system?

Chained CPI Cuts Average Social Security Benefits by $15,615 - Even With Bump-Up for Older Retirees

Ben Veghte | Posted 04.24.2013 | Politics
Ben Veghte

Seventy-seven million baby boomers have entered or are approaching retirement. Social Security will make up the bulk of the income most of these seniors will have at their disposal. As our private retirement system continues to underperform and Medicare premiums rise, cutting Social Security COLAs based on a false premise is bad policy.

Study Debunks GOP Talking Point On Immigration Reform

The Huffington Post | Jillian Berman | Posted 04.18.2013 | Business

As politicians grapple with the best way to deal with the soaring costs of Social Security, they might be interested to find out that pursuing compreh...

A Tale of Two Constituencies

Mike Lux | Posted 04.12.2013 | Politics
Mike Lux

Public opinion matters a great deal in the American system of government, just as it does in any democracy. But it sure isn't the only thing that matters, as the following true story demonstrates. It's what I call A Tale of Two Constituencies.

Arthur Delaney

Bernie Sanders: Obama Owns Chained CPI

HuffingtonPost.com | Arthur Delaney | Posted 04.09.2013 | Politics

WASHINGTON -- If President Barack Obama keeps on signaling his willingness to cut Social Security benefits, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) warned Tuesd...

Sabrina Siddiqui

Immigration Reform Threatens Social Security, Conservative Group Warns Seniors

HuffingtonPost.com | Sabrina Siddiqui | Posted 04.03.2013 | Politics

WASHINGTON -- A conservative group is sending a new mailer to seniors, warning them that undocumented immigrants will cut into their Social Security b...

Veterans Fight Changes To Disability Payments

AP | KEVIN FREKING | Posted 03.30.2013 | Politics

WASHINGTON — Veterans groups are rallying to fight any proposal to change disability payments as the federal government attempts to address its ...

One Group of Lawmakers Is Thinking Seriously About America's Future, And Another Group Isn't

Eric Kingson | Posted 03.25.2013 | Politics
Eric Kingson

The proposals put forward by Democrats in Congress reflect the values of the overwhelming majority of Americans. The same cannot be said for the budgets put forward by Republicans in Congress.

Don't Be Fooled by Misleading Report Calling for Chained CPI

Ben Veghte | Posted 03.24.2013 | Politics
Ben Veghte

Our Social Security system is vital to the economic security of our elderly, people with disabilities, children of deceased workers, and others. Whatever we do, we should disregard Wall-street funded reports urging us, under false pretenses of accuracy, to cut Social Security benefits.

Dave Jamieson

Organized Labor Willing To Buck White House On Entitlements

HuffingtonPost.com | Dave Jamieson | Posted 03.15.2013 | Politics

WASHINGTON -- With the White House showing openness to cuts in Social Security, officials with the AFL-CIO labor federation said Friday that they woul...

Future Retirement Security at Risk

A. Barry Rand | Posted 05.11.2013 | Politics
A. Barry Rand

It's time to have a national discussion about how to ensure that Social Security continues to contribute to the future security of older Americans -- not in the context of reducing a federal deficit it did not create, but with the goal of helping people achieve a comfortable retirement.

9 Questions People Over 50 Should Ask Themselves Before Divorcing

Henry Gornbein | Posted 05.06.2013 | Divorce
Henry Gornbein

As our population gets older, we are not only seeing a growing interest in "Fifty Shades of Grey" -- we're also seeing an increase in gray divorce. ...

Catherine New

The Lame Reason A Retired Man Is Denied $1,100 Per Month

HuffingtonPost.com | Catherine New | Posted 03.05.2013 | Business

For Marvin Burrows, the grief of losing his partner in 2005 was quickly followed by a different emotion: devastation as his financial life crumbled ar...

5 Ideas For Fixing Social Security

U.S. News And World Report | Emily Brandon | Posted 02.18.2013 | Fifty

The Social Security trust fund is expected to be exhausted in 2033. After that, there will be enough tax revenue coming in to pay out about three quar...

Social Security's Huge Incentive to Keep Working

Laurence J. Kotlikoff | Posted 04.15.2013 | Fifty
Laurence J. Kotlikoff

How long do I intend to "work"? Hopefully, right up to my last day. And, as if I didn't have enough good reasons to work, Social Security offers me a significant incentive for doing so. The longer I work, the larger my Social Security benefits will be.

Increasing Social Security Benefits: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Richard (RJ) Eskow | Posted 04.13.2013 | Politics
Richard (RJ) Eskow

The concept of increasing Social Security has been around for a while. Strengthen Social Security, a coalition of 320 groups, reviewed the program's ability to meet current and future needs and concluded that benefits should be increased rather than cut.

We Know You Hear Us, But Are You Really Listening to Us on Social Security?

Donna M. Butts | Posted 04.10.2013 | Politics
Donna M. Butts

Today's realities are that we need Social Security, we need reinstatement of the student benefit, and we can ensure the program is here for our children and grandchildren with a few minor changes that a large majority of Americans agree with. Congress: We know you hear us, but are you really listening?

Social Security, Healthcare Spending To Double

Reuters | Posted 04.07.2013 | Business

* Spending on Social Security, healthcare due to double in decade * CBO warns of sharp rise in debt unless Congress acts ...

Arthur Delaney

Bernie Sanders Calls Out Social Security Haters

HuffingtonPost.com | Arthur Delaney | Posted 01.31.2013 | Politics

WASHINGTON -- Seventy-three years ago to the day, Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vt., was issued the first Social Security check. "It wasn't that I exp...

Risky Business

Richard C. Leone | Posted 03.27.2013 | Business
Richard C. Leone

It's common to cite Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security as cushioning the burdens of old age and providing access to otherwise unaffordable health care. But how often do we think of them as protecting our backs in an uncertain, risky, and rapidly changing global economy?

Getting Social Security Help May Boost Your Benefits

Jim T. Miller | Posted 03.25.2013 | Fifty
Jim T. Miller

Deciding when to begin collecting your Social Security benefits could be one of the most important retirement-income decisions you'll make. The difference between a good decision and a poor one could cost you tens of thousands of dollars over your retirement, so do your homework.

Saving Social Security by Cutting Middle-Class Taxes

Robert P. Stoker | Posted 03.15.2013 | Politics
Robert P. Stoker

Although Obama has considered the chained CPI, he has also advocated raising the FICA tax cap. His proposal does not go far enough to preserve Social Security. A better alternative is to expand the tax base, not merely by increasing the FICA tax cap but by taxing other income sources.