Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Warren Buffett, the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, is often cited in discussions of Social Security reform for backing a blunt move: removing (or significantly raising) the cap on earnings subject to the payroll tax. His reasoning is simple. High earners stop paying the Social Security payroll tax on wages once their earnings pass a…
Retirees such as competitive globetrotters described as “Competitive globetrotters seeking early retirement” are proving that work does not have to stop when Social Security starts, it can simply move overseas. Recent guidance on side gigs in retirement highlights that travel friendly work like Trave related roles, teaching and seasonal hospitality can keep income flowing while…
Americans are living longer, retiring with less, and facing a widening gap between what they have saved and what they will need. The Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances, the most recent available, shows that median household net worth varies sharply by age and income, and for many workers on ordinary paychecks the numbers…
An analysis of federal microdata collected by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that the typical working American holds less than $1,000 in dedicated retirement savings, a figure that exposes a deep fault line in the country’s private savings system. The data comes from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, a nationally representative longitudinal survey…
The Congressional Budget Office projects that Social Security’s retirement trust fund will become insolvent around fiscal year 2032, while the Social Security Administration’s own trustees place the date at 2033. Either timeline gives Congress fewer than eight years to close a funding gap that, left unaddressed, would force automatic benefit cuts for tens of millions…
Thousands of military families are waiting months for childcare slots that never seem to open, with Army families facing average delays of 139 days just to place a child under age 5 in care. The shortage, driven by staff turnover rates that reached as high as 50% in fiscal year 2022, has turned a quality-of-life…
The Social Security Administration has formally expanded the types of personal data it can share with the Department of Homeland Security, adding new routine uses that permit disclosure of citizenship and immigration information for holders of Social Security numbers. The change, published in the Federal Register on November 12, 2025, modifies the privacy architecture governing…
A worker who earned a steady $100,000 throughout a full career can expect a monthly Social Security check of roughly $2,900 in 2026, based on the agency’s own benefit formulas and the latest cost-of-living adjustment. That figure, while higher than the overall average for retired workers, replaces less than half of pre-retirement income, a gap…
Every month a worker waits past full retirement age to collect Social Security, the federal government adds a permanent bump to that person’s monthly check. The reward for patience maxes out at age 70, and for most Americans born in 1960 or later, the total gain can reach 24 percent above the standard benefit. But…
Retirees holding less than $2,000,000 in traditional IRA and 401(k) savings face a growing chorus of advice to convert those accounts to Roth IRAs. The pitch is simple: pay taxes now, enjoy tax-free withdrawals later, and dodge required minimum distributions. But for most people in this savings range, the immediate tax hit and a chain…