Feb 09 4 reasons not to trust Social Security's benefit estimates By Laurence Kotlikoff Social Security expert Larry Kotlikoff recommends you retrieve your annual statement each year to check that Social Security has correctly credited your covered earnings. But don’t trust the statement’s projections of your retirement benefits or the benefits available to family… Continue reading
Feb 02 How to collect your ex's Social Security, even if you're not speaking By Laurence Kotlikoff Ex-spouses can’t control what Social Security benefits their exes collect on their work records. What they want or don't want you to receive makes no difference. But there are still requirements to collecting off of an ex-spouse. Social Security expert… Continue reading
Jan 28 Can expats take their Medicare abroad? By Philip Moeller Medicare recipients can keep Part A and Part B while living outside the United States, as long as they continue to pay their monthly Part B premiums. Maintaining Medicare drug coverage abroad, however, is a lot trickier. Making Sen$e Medicare… Continue reading
Jan 26 How can Uncle Sam keep our unused Social Security benefits? By Laurence Kotlikoff Once a person dies, the Social Security benefits to which he or she was entitled when alive do not automatically go to their survivors. Some readers think that's unfair. But as Social Security expert Larry Kotlikoff explains, Social Security works… Continue reading
Jan 23 Social Security's Christmas present: Benefit cuts for millions of disabled workers By Laurence Kotlikoff Social Security expert Larry Kotlikoff highlights a recent change in Social Security's operating manual that, while seemingly obscure, hurts millions of Americans who receive disability benefits. In effect, Kotlikoff argues, Social Security is now treating people with disabilities as second… Continue reading
Jan 12 How many husbands' Social Security benefits can you collect? By Laurence Kotlikoff If you're one of the millions of Americans who have been married multiple times, you may be eligible to collect benefits from ex-spouses, deceased spouses and current spouses, but never at the same time, explains Social Security expert Larry Kotlikoff. Continue reading
Jan 06 Social Security 101: Don't count on dying on time By Laurence Kotlikoff Just because your parents didn't live beyond a certain age, doesn't mean that you shouldn't plan on doing so, either. The assumption that you'll need more money later for retirement should guide all of your Social Security collection decisions, especially… Continue reading
Dec 29 Are more FICA taxes worth it? Social Security as longevity insurance By Laurence Kotlikoff Social Security benefits are inflation indexed and continue until you die. There is nothing like them that you can buy on the insurance market, says Larry Kotlikoff. That's why paying more FICA taxes, often by working longer, may pay off… Continue reading
Dec 23 Will Social Security count my big earnings if I lose my job before 66? By Laurence Kotlikoff If you lose your high-paying job before full retirement age, you don't lose Social Security benefits you've already paid for, says expert Larry Kotlikoff. What you might miss out on, though, is an opportunity to raise your lifetime benefits even… Continue reading
Dec 15 Why does it feel like Social Security's ripping me off? By Laurence Kotlikoff You may be entitled to Social Security benefits on more than one account and believe that you deserve all of those benefits after you and your (ex)-spouses contributed to the Social Security system. But the reality, Larry Kotlikoff explains, is… Continue reading