We project the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Social Security benefits next year under different scenarios. Retirees are better off with a lower COLA.
Roth Conversion with Social Security and Medicare IRMAA
A step-by-step walkthrough of how to use the Case Study Spreadsheet to estimate tax rates on Roth conversion with Social Security and Medicare IRMAA.
Calculator: How Much of My Social Security Benefits Is Taxable?
Use this online calculator to see how much of your Social Security benefits is taxable and how much of it is tax-free.
An Unusually High Marginal Tax Rate Means Paying Lower Taxes
An unusually high marginal tax rate isn’t a problem. You’re rewarded with paying lower taxes. You live on after-tax dollars, not rates.
Make Fewer Things Matter: My Epiphany From Cutting A Pineapple
Making fewer things matter helps you focus attention and ward off FOMO and sales pitches. You’ve made it when you can afford all the “mistakes.”
See Your Social Security Benefits Estimate In an Interactive Chart
Social Security Administration added an interactive chart in the online account but a third-party tool still does a much better job.
Retiring Early: Effect On Social Security Benefits
Retiring early means lower average earnings for calculating Social Security benefits. However, once you reach the second bend point, you aren’t losing much. I show you how to see when you will reach the second bend point.
Social Security Claiming Strategy Calculators Compared
I compared two free calculators for the optimal Social Security claiming strategy with hypothetical test cases. They both do a good job.
When To Claim Social Security Calculators
These free and paid online calculators will help you figure out when and how you should claim your Social Security benefits.
Happy Trails With Income Poor
This is the third and final installment on my Asset Rich Income Poor strategy. The road to asset rich sounds simple at a high level but it’s not that easy at the details level, because every decision you make has tradeoffs. The tradeoffs affect the final outcome in ways you can’t know for sure. I […]
Obama Budget Proposal: Chained CPI and Cap on Retirement Accounts
The news media, Internet discussion boards and Twitter are full of protests about two things in President Obama’s budget proposal, leaked to the press before its official release: chained CPI for Social Security and cap on retirement accounts. First of all, these are only proposals. The President does not make law. The proposals get fed […]
Social Security Penalizes Two-Earner Families
A two-earner family with the same income as a one-earner family receives lower Social Security benefits. The difference gets much larger when one spouse dies.