The surviving spouse benefit is a critical part of retirement planning.   At some point in time, nearly every married couple will have to deal with the loss of their spouse and the financial ramifications that go with it. When both a husband and wife are eligible for a Social Security benefit, and one spouse predeceases the other, the surviving spouse is entitled to the higher of the two Social Security benefits.  Assuming the surviving spouse has reached full retirement age, they are … [Read more...]

The Social Security Administration announced today that monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for more than 66 million Americans will increase by 2%. The 2% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 61 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2018.   Increased payments to more than eight million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 29, 2017. … [Read more...]

As few as 1% of Americans delay until the age of 70 to take their Social Security.   I believe there are several reasons for this, but primary among them is that they do not have a plan that will allow them to delay. … [Read more...]