Will You Regret Taking Social Security ASAP?

My Comments: Too many people choose to take early benefits. If you need the money, hate your job, don’t have a job, plan to die soon, or simply don’t have confidence in your life, then maybe it’s OK. But it usually turns out to be a mistake. There is a do over, but you have …

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Do the recent changes in Social Security rules allow you to file and suspend?

My Comments: A critical date is fast approaching for those of you who have not yet signed up to receive your Social Security benefits, for one reason or another. This writer clearly knows his stuff and if you have questions of me, I’ll do my best to answer them. None of this may apply to …

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New Social Security Claiming Rules

My Comments: Social Security has become a fundamental element in the lives of virtually every American on the planet. Those of us old enough to have started taking monthly payments could only gasp if they were taken away. I guess there are some who wouldn't give a damn. But still... The rules just enacted limit …

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Obama’s Climate Plan Makes for Canny Politics

My Comments: In keeping with tradition, the President’s critics are having the usual hysterics about his recent announcement designed to reduce carbon emissions. If I were the owner of a bunch of coal mines, I’d probably be unhappy too. But for the rest of us who don’t own coal mines, which is virtually all of …

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QLACs Change the Game in Social Security Timing

My Comments: If you know about Social Security plannning, as I claim to do, the prevailing wisdom is to delay taking your benefits for as long as possible. The argument is that each year you wait, you increase the size of your payments by 8%, even before the expected annual increase due to inflation. What …

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7 Social Security Mistakes to Avoid

My Comments: Social Security payments are a critical financial component of many lives these days. When it began in 1935, there was much gnashing of teeth among the political parties since it represented a recognition by the government that some people needed help. This was in a world recovering from the Great Depression and watching …

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Border Security Is Not An Immigration Cure-All

My Comments: Many of you know that I am a documented alien who in 1959 was granted US citizenship. Hopefully, this gives me some right to comment on the immigration issues facing us today. While I’m not an admirer of the Mexican political system, I do accept that if you achieve the status of President, …

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Social Security: 5 Facts You Must Know

My Comments: With the GOP now controlling the House and Senate, there is increased talk about threats to the Social Security system. After all, this is a socialist program, designed to help the financially weakest among us. I’ve long maintained that small tweaks, similar to what Congress has already done some 20-25 years ago, will …

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Social Security Survivor Benefits: What Advisors (and clients) Should Know

My Comments: By now you know that I provide financial advice about Social Security and about ways to maximize your SSA benefits. That all happens when you are alive. Inevitably, someone in a married relationship is going to leave the building, as Elvis did. Then what happens?   by Paul Norr / AUG 18, 2014 …

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Social Security: Boost Benefits for Both Spouses

My Comments: Helping potential clients with an analysis of coming Social Security benefits is big business across the country these days. And I’m doing my share of it. Thank you very much. But in spite of my being closely aligned with this process for the past 15 months, I’m still confused by the myriad of …

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