Category: Social Security

The House has cleared a major Social Security package that touches everything from benefit fairness to how clearly the government explains claiming ages, but the real test now sits across the Capitol. With the Senate yet to act, tens of millions of retirees and workers are stuck in limbo over changes that could shape their…

Social Security is about to deliver a meaningful raise in 2026, and the size of that increase will look different depending on whether you claim at 62, wait until your full retirement age, or hold out until 70 and beyond. To make sense of what that means for real monthly checks, I am looking at…

Retirees in a handful of Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states are on track for some of the largest Social Security pay bumps in 2026, with lifetime residents potentially seeing gains that add up to roughly $2,000 over the course of the year. The increases are tied to a nationwide adjustment, but higher average benefits in certain…

President Donald Trump has spent years promising to wipe out federal taxes on Social Security benefits, casting himself as the champion of retirees squeezed by the IRS. What seniors actually received instead was a narrower income tax break that leaves the basic structure of Social Security taxation intact and, according to specialists, risks weakening the…

Millions of baby boomers are entering the final stretch for making Social Security decisions that will shape the rest of their lives. With benefit rules tightening, cost-of-living increases moderating and the program’s long term finances under pressure, the window to act strategically is narrowing fast. The core choice of when and how to claim is…

Retirees heading into 2026 are being told to celebrate a bigger Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, yet many boomers will still feel like their checks are lagging behind the prices that actually shape their lives. The official formula says inflation is under control, but grocery receipts, Medicare premiums and property taxes are telling a different story…

Required minimum distributions can be a double hit: they raise taxable income and can pull more of your Social Security into the tax net. If I want to keep my benefits tax free, or at least limit how much is taxed, I have to think about how to shrink my RMD to something like $25,000…

The 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment that hits Social Security checks at the start of 2026 is being sold as proof that the program is keeping up with prices. It is also being branded as a political win for President Donald Trump, whose tariff strategy helped nudge inflation high enough to trigger a larger formula-based raise….

Social Security has not stood still in 2025. While political fights grab the headlines, a series of quieter rule tweaks, benefit adjustments, and technology shifts are already changing how and when Americans get paid, and what they must do to qualify. Most of these moves are incremental on paper, but together they reshape expectations about…

Dave Ramsey has never been shy about telling retirees to ignore conventional wisdom, and his latest guidance on Social Security is no exception. Instead of waiting for a bigger monthly check, he argues that many people should start benefits at age 62 and then put that money to work in the market. I see his…