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.
Retirement Income: OAS and CPP in Canada vs Social Security in US
Canada’s retirement programs OAS and CPP have a much better setup than Social Security in the US.
Social Security Family Benefits Mess
Most of people think of Social Security as a government managed savings program similar to a 401k plan: you pay into the system when you are working; you draw from the system when you retire. More informed people will point out it isn’t so. It’s a pay-as-you-go inter-generation transfer program. The money you (and your […]