Tag: Social Security

marry or live together

Shack Up and Save? What Are the Financial Advantages and Disadvantages to Marriage Later in Life

More and more couples over the ages of 60 are favoring cohabitation over marriage.  In fact, cohabitation among people over the age of 60 more than quadrupled between 2000 and 2020. What is Driving the Trend Toward Cohabitation? There are quite a few factors driving the trend toward cohabitation for people over 50 or 60.…

How a Biden Presidency Might Affect Your Retirement

Joe Biden is now President elect. There are several ways a Biden presidency might affect your retirement, including lower tax benefits on 401(k) accounts and more generous Social Security benefits. Biden’s Plan for Older Americans gives specific details on what Biden would like to do as President to overhaul the nation’s retirement system, shore up…

social security disability

Expert Interview Series: Sheri Abrams on Social Security Disability

An illness or injury can totally derail the best laid retirement plans, making it difficult or impossible to earn an income. In 2014, 2.5 million Americans applied for Social Security Disability. But only 810,973 were granted disability payments. What happened? What went wrong? Government agencies can be tricky to navigate at the best of times,…

Social security benefits

Thought Leader Series: Retiring on Only Social Security: Great or Terrible Idea?

Rebecca Wiggins is the Executive Director of AFCPE and holds a Masters of Family Financial Planning from Kansas State University. Search for an AFCPE Certified Professional in your area by using the association’s search tool. Now in its 80th year, Social Security is still the cornerstone of the American retirement plan. Following the Great Depression,…

Improve your retirement plan

Know Your Social Security Choices to Improve Your Retirement Plan

Choosing the right time to claim your Social Security benefits could improve your retirement plan. If you review your Social Security choices — your options for claiming Social Security benefits, you will find that you can increase your monthly Social Security income by waiting until after you are 62 years old to claim your benefit.…

Social security

Happy Birthday, Social Security: You’re 80 Years Young!

August 14 marks the 80th birthday of the program that we know as Social Security. Eighty years ago, the country was suffering through the Great Depression. Jobs were worse than scarce, and families were worse than poor. Pensions had all but disappeared, so the elderly suffered along with younger people who couldn’t find adequate work.…

Retirement

Is it Possible to Know How Long You’ll Want to Keep Working?

Whether to keep working or retire is one of the most difficult decisions you’ll make in life. It changes everything, and starts a whole new phase. While there’s no crystal ball, one thing is for sure: Being cautious with this choice can only serve you well. CNBC’s Kelly Holland explains in the article, “Ready to…

Social security

How Can I Be Sure it’s the Right Time to Start Taking Social Security?

Choosing when to claim your social security benefits can be one of the most important decisions that you make in retirement. Proper timing is important, but with conflicting information and advice, it can be hard to determine what the best course of action is for you. Let’s explore what factors you should consider when making…

Women Face High Risk of Poverty During Retirement; How to Protect Yourself

More than half of all Americans worry they won’t have enough money during retirement, but women are more at risk of this than men. More than half (52.6%) of women age 65 and older are considered “economically vulnerable” compared to 41.9% of men in the same age group, according to the Economic Policy Institute’s 2013…