Social Security

Testing two software tools that calculate benefits and help users' wargame claiming strategies

With different levels of sophistication and price, which claiming-strategy tool is optimal?

Increasingly, financial advisers are interested in incorporating Social Security-claiming strategies into their clients' retirement income plans.

I received a question from an adviser in California today that broke my heart. Donna wanted to know if her client might be entitled to Social Security survivor benefits based on her ex-husband's earnings record.

With all of the interspersed factors to consider when helping determine a client's best Social Security claiming strategy, software can be a godsend. But which tool offers the best output for the cost? I looked into and ran test scenarios through two of the most popular Social Security software

Increasingly, financial advisers are interested in incorporating Social Security claiming strategies into their clients’ retirement income plans. But as most of you know from reading my InvestmentNews columns, Social Security rules can be downright confounding. To get an accurate estimate of your

I received an interesting question from a reader last week. She asked, What are the Social Security-claiming rules for a married couple who have been legally separated for years but have not divorced? In this case, both spouses are older than the normal retirement age of 66, but the husband the

I received an interesting question from a reader last week. She asked what are the Social Security claiming rules for a married couple that has been legally separated for years, but is not divorced?In this case, both spouses are older than the normal retirement age of 66, but the husband—the larger

A financial adviser in Minneapolis recently received a panicked call from one of his clients asking what would happen to her disability benefits once she reached full retirement age.

Plenty of confusion over the interplay between disability and retirement benefits.

So often when I write or talk about Social Security benefits, I refer to the fact that actuarially, women are likely to survive their husbands. Consequently, many of my discussions of survivor benefits focus on widows.