Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
(Updated October 3, 2018 - with an important new development) --July 18, 2018 -- Back in May we reported on our experience of applying online for our Social Security retirement benefits. The plan was to have the application completed and accepted in time to start receiving benefits in August, 2018, the month we turned 70 years old. Here is our report on the final two chapters in that process. (You can read the entire report, including this update, at "Applying Online for Social Security- Our Experience".
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July Update - Not quite there yet!
Since I filed my application in mid May I have been waiting to see what would happen with it. I did receive a letter from SS saying my application had
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Published on July 17, 2018
Comments 7
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
June 11, 2018 -- Some of the more reliable "10 Best Places to Retire" Lists come from Kiplingers. They recently came out with their "10 Cheapest States to Retire" version, and we think it is a pretty good effort. To come up with their ratings they looked at cost of living, taxes on retirees, average health care costs for retirees, and fiscal health of the state. As is often noted, sometimes you get what you pay for, although in the case of most of these states, you do tend to get more for your retirement dollars.
Although they didn't numerically rank their "cheapest 10", one ranking that is clear was cost of living compared to the rest of the U.S. Note that these rankings are on a statewide basis: different areas of different states can have dramatically different living costs. In big
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Published on June 11, 2018
Comments 7
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
— “Beware those free dinners”—
Updated April 2023 - originally published May, 2018 —
One of several recent Member article suggestions was this one: “Is it better to hire a financial advisor or handle that financial planning yourself? And if you hire one, how should you go about it?” Thank you, that is a topic we know a lot of retired people struggle with. We should preface this article by saying that we are not financial experts. This piece summarizes recent interviews with four baby boomers who have wrestled with this topic themselves, plus some of our own experiences with financial advisors. At the end you will find links to some other great resources about how to/whether to hire a financial
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Published on June 8, 2018
Comments 17
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
May 16, 2018 -- (Updated July and October with more experience). Back in March I received a letter from the Social Security Administration - "It is time for you to register for your retirement benefit!" I was impressed with their timing and efficiency, since my 70th birthday will be this August. Nicely done. This article will chronicle my experiences in registering for my Social Security retirement benefit online - lessons learned that hopefully will help others when it comes time to claim their benefits.
My decision was to wait until age 70 to claim. Fortunately we have been able to afford to live without that benefit so far. That blessing, coupled with very good genes (my parents' average age before departing this earth was 97), made it seem like a good bet to wait until 70. That way I could capture the 8% increase a year for delaying from age 66, and then enjoy that extra money for a long time past the breakeven point in my late 70s (and my wife after I pass). Time will tell if that was a good move or not.
Registering for Social Security retirement benefits
My plan and hope was to register online, and not have to spend time on the phone or waiting
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Published on May 15, 2018
Comments 13
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
Take the 2020 Social Security IQ Test! New questions and updated for 2020!
May 2, 2018 -- Even though the average scores were quite low on last week's Social Security IQ Quiz, there is still plenty of good news. Best of all, we are happy that so many people, over 2,000 and climbing, took the time to take it last week. It wasn't easy, particularly with its occasionally tricky multiple choice options. But after having taken it, gotten a score, read the answers, and understanding why they were correct - a lot of people now have a better understanding of this critical retirement benefit. Hurrah!
In this article we are going to cover the highlights of the quiz and how our test takers did on it. We won't go into the nuts and bolts of every answer, because we already provided all the correct answers and explanations at Your Social Security Quiz Results.
Overall scores
The average score on the quiz was 50%. Of the 2046 taking it as of
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Published on May 1, 2018
Comments 14
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
TAKE OUR SOCIAL SECURITY IQ QUIZ Note: Links go to the 2020 Quiz. To take the 2018 Quiz use this link: 2018 OUR SOCIAL SECURITY IQ QUIZ.April 21, 2018 — For most Americans, their Social Security retirement benefits are a critical part of retirement. So here is…
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Published on April 21, 2018
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Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
Thanks for taking our Social Security Quiz. (If you haven't taken it already, here is the link to the Quiz). To make sure you don't miss out on useful tools and information like this, sign up for our Free weekly Best Places enewsletter.
Overall results
It is clear this was a hard quiz - Social Security is complicated. The average score after more than 2,000 people took it is 50%. Of the 13 questions, more people in aggregate got the correct answer than not. There were, however, 2 questions that most people missed (by a narrow margin). See Question 3 (how Social Security calculates your benefit -
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Published on April 20, 2018
Comments 14
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
March 14, 2018 -- A crisis will affect Social Security just 16 short years from now, and it has some experts rethinking their strategies for when to start taking Social Security. Instead of urging people to wait until age 70, some are recommending beginning at age 66.
The crisis
In 2034 the Social Security reserves are expected to be exhausted. With no reserves available, the only money available to pay benefits is what comes in from current worker and employer contributions into the program. Sadly, that won't be enough; starting in 2034 there will only be enough coming in to pay 77% of scheduled benefits.
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A new recommendation to think about
Mark Hulbert of Market Watch reported on the argument posed by Richard Band, editor of the Profitable Investing advisory service, in "Why it might be better to take Social Security at age 66 instead of 70". To Band, the question of when to start taking the benefit hinges on your confidence in the federal government. The advisor, who is 66, facetiously wonders if anyone really
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Published on March 14, 2018
Comments 150
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
December 19, 2017 — The imminent passage of the Republican tax bill makes us wonder how our audience - retirees and people about to retire - will be affected by it. We will attempt to answer that question here, recognizing that everyone’s situation is unique and might be affected differently. We are not tax experts, but have tried to digest various media reports to provide this overview.
The bill will have direct effects on retirees in 2018, as well as some possible indirect effects down the road. Let's look at each of those in turn.
Direct effects on retirees
1. Lower tax payments. With the exception of the people described in #4 below, almost everyone will pay lower federal taxes in 2018 than they do now. However, those cuts will expire in 2025.
Effect: Good news for retirees who pay taxes, except in those who live in high tax states. Who wouldn't want to pay lower taxes!
2. The standard deduction is now much higher, at $12,000 per person vs. the current $6500. This means that far fewer people will have enough deductions to itemize, and filing will be simplified. On the other hand the current personal deduction of $4500 has been eliminated, so the net effect in the increase in the standard exemption
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Published on December 18, 2017
Comments 65
Category: Financial and taxes in retirement
November 28, 2017 — As if there wasn’t enough bad news to go around, your Social Security retirement check is in trouble. If Congress doesn’t act soon, retirement benefits will probably have to be cut by 23% in 2034 – when someone who is 66 years old now will be…
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Published on November 27, 2017
Comments 29
