Tag: Social Security

  • Your Sweet Recipe for Retirement

    Steaming gravy, savory stuffing and sweet potatoes — four types of pie for dessert: pumpkin, apple, sweet potato, and pecan. Every family has its Thanksgiving dinner traditions and recipes to create a perfect holiday meal. If you fail to plan or measure your ingredients, your pie could be a real flop. Planning for your future…

  • Women and Social Security

    Social Security values and appreciates women. Men and women with identical earnings histories receive the same benefits, yet women should know about certain trends, differences in lifestyle and patterns of earnings that may affect their benefits. For example, some women may be caregivers for many people: spouses, children and parents. Taking time away from the…

  • Social Security Turns 80

    Eighty years ago, on Aug. 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. The new law guaranteed a basic income for retirees and, at the time, the unemployed. Over the years, Social Security has expanded its safety net beyond retirees to provide benefits for people with disabilities and the chronically…

  • Helping as a Representative Payee

    If you handle the finances for a Social Security beneficiary or know someone who may need help managing benefits, you may consider applying to become a representative payee. A representative payee is someone who receives Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments on behalf of a person not capable of managing the funds on…

  • Social Security Fights Against Fraud

    If you’re like most people, you protect what’s valuable to you. To protect your family financially, you buy health and life insurance. To protect your home, you get homeowner’s insurance, a security alarm, or perhaps a large dog. You hide your jewelry in a safe place or buy insurance in case you need to replace…

  • Financial: Time for a Retirement Dress Rehearsal

    Two emotions are likely to strike those who are nearing retirement — excitement and fear. Leaving the world of alarm clocks and cubicles is liberating, but feelings of apprehension about entering a new life stage can easily creep in. The responsibility of pursuing your passions and filling each week in a satisfying way can be…

  • Social Security: Ring in the New Year With a COLA

    May people ring in the new year with champagne. People who receive Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) got to ring it in with a COLA. This year, more than 60 million Americans are receiving a 1.5 percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) in their monthly benefit payment. The 1.5 percent COLA began with…

  • Start a New Tradition with Social Security

    The holiday season has arrived — a time of year that is steeped in tradition. We’d like to suggest that you start a new tradition. It actually starts with breaking the old tradition of trudging to an office when you need to do business with Social Security. Sometimes traditions evolve. Many of the things your…

  • Spouses Have a Significant Benefit

    Social Security can be an important financial asset for married couples when the time comes to apply for retirement benefits. In many cases, one spouse may have earned significantly more than the other, or have worked for a longer span of time. Or it could be that one spouse stayed home to raise the children…

  • Al Harrington Discusses His Years … And Yours

    Al Harrington Discusses His Years … And Yours

    At 77 years young, Al Harrington has seemingly lived the life of the American Dream—entertainer, actor, healer and educator. Yet, after experiencing cancer and diabetes, Al was compelled to build the healing spirit in Hawai‘i. For him, that meant illustrating how new and old methods of healing can work well together.

  • Medicare? Are You There Yet?

    Remember the familiar line chanted by children being driven somewhere, “Are we there yet?” As I visit companies to conduct Medicare preretiree seminars, I hear employees nearing the age of Medicare eligibility, quietly asking each other something similar —“Are You There Yet?” Most can hardly believe they are reaching their 65th birthday and will soon…

  • Strong Families Survive

    In June we celebrate National Family Month, which is a great time to reflect on your family and how to make it stronger. As the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reminds us, strong families share many valuable qualities: trust, commitment, communication, growth, affection, fun, and love. Strong families are more likely to grow…