The financial news that actually matters
Covers Social Security benefits, eligibility rules, payment calculations, and policy changes. It explains how benefits are determined and how they impact retirement income.
Roughly 1.5 million veterans who receive disability compensation could see their benefits reduced under a bill that House Republicans have moved toward a floor vote. H.R. 9237, titled the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, includes a provision known as Section 108 that would offset the cost of expanding benefits for combat-injured military retirees by…
The Social Security Board of Trustees released its 2026 annual report on June 9, projecting that the combined Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance trust funds will be depleted in the third quarter of 2034. After that point, incoming payroll tax revenue would cover only 83 percent of scheduled benefits for the roughly 67…
Roughly 70 million Americans who depend on Social Security retirement checks face a 22 percent benefit cut starting in late 2032 unless Congress acts first. The program’s Board of Trustees released its 2026 annual report on June 9, confirming that the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund will be depleted by the fourth quarter of…
Workers who skip their employer’s 401(k) match forfeit what amounts to an instant, guaranteed return on every dollar they contribute. Under federal tax rules, employers can match employee contributions dollar-for-dollar or at a set percentage, but that money only flows to participants who actually defer part of their paycheck. The catch: even after earning a…
A married couple collecting Social Security typically receives two separate monthly payments, one based on each spouse’s earnings record. When one partner dies, the household does not keep both checks. Federal rules allow the survivor to receive only the higher of the two benefits, not the combined total. For couples where one spouse earned far…
Married couples where one spouse earned significantly less over a career stand to collect a larger combined Social Security check than many realize, but the benefit hinges on precise timing. Federal law sets the spousal benefit at one-half of the higher earner’s primary insurance amount, or PIA, provided the lower-earning spouse has reached full retirement…
When a married couple both collect Social Security and one spouse dies, the survivor does not keep both monthly payments. The agency pays only the larger of the two checks, and the smaller one stops. That single rule can cut a household’s Social Security income by a third or more overnight, and the size of…
A two-year increase in Social Security’s full retirement age, from 67 to 69, would shrink a typical retiree’s monthly check by $345 to $741, depending on when they file and when they were born. The Congressional Budget Office has modeled exactly this scenario, and the Senate Budget Committee’s Democratic leadership has called it what the…
Americans born in 1943 or later who pass their full retirement age without claiming Social Security earn a permanent benefit increase of two-thirds of 1 percent for every month they wait, adding up to 8 percent per year through age 70. That fixed rate applies uniformly regardless of income, health, or life expectancy, which means…
Workers born in 1960 or later face a permanent 30 percent cut to their monthly Social Security checks if they claim benefits at 62 rather than waiting until their full retirement age of 67. That reduction applies to every payment for the rest of a retiree’s life, and it cannot be reversed once benefits begin….