Search results for Social Security
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Posted
Aug 24 2009, 12:13 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Here's a headline that's bound to get your attention: "Millions face shrinking Social Security checks." Or how about this one? "Social Security payments sans COLA puts millions at risk." What's going on here? Are seniors getting the shaft?
Partial answer: Not really.
Because the inflation rate has been negative, the nation's 50 million Social Security recipients aren't likely to get a cost-of-living increase next year or the year after that. That hasn't happened since annual adjustments for inflation were made automatic in 1975. However, keep in mind that:
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Posted
Jul 10 2009, 08:07 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from Frank Curmudgeon at Bad Money Advice.
The latest hot topic on the identity theft front is a paper published on Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science by two professors at Carnegie Mellon on how easy it is to guess a person's Social Security number.
That day Ars Technica reported on it. Also, the authors of the paper started a blog on it. The Associated Press picked it up Tuesday. CrunchGear blogged on it then too. And Wednesday brought posts from Wise Bread and WalletPop.
This is a great story. It combines several of my favorite themes. There's the ever amusing hysteria over identity theft, which apparently renders a person incapable of rational thought and perspective. There are the unintended consequences of seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time government policies. And there is the recurring phenomenon of folks who report and comment on academic papers without reading and/or understanding them.
The researchers, Alessandro Acquisti and Ralph Gross, developed a methodology for guessing SSNs based on publicly available databases and some often publicly available data about people, specifically their date and place of birth. The method is orders of magnitude less accurate than suggested in the blogosphere, but it may be a lot more accurate than you might imagine. To understand why requires a bit of a lesson on the history and mechanics of Social Security numbers.
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Posted
Mar 23 2009, 04:15 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from "vh" at Funny about Money.
This month's statement from Fidelity shows another $10,000 loss in my big IRA, despite my financial advisers' having moved as much as possible into conservative investments, gold and cash.
At the age of 63 -- damn! soon to be 64! -- I'm watching my retirement investments melt away. That IRA has dropped in value from a high of $326,000 to $193,000. Total savings have dropped from more than $600,000 to less than $420,000. Meanwhile, we owe $100,000 more than the investment house is presently worth, and I took out a second on my own house to renovate said investment.
I'm wondering if it's time to do something completely, utterly, totally contrarian. Hang on to your hats, folks, because this is one scary idea:
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Posted
Oct 29 2008, 03:18 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Although it's a questionable decision for many, almost half of 61-year-olds surveyed recently said they'll begin collecting Social Security when they reach 62, the earliest people can apply. The new survey by Fidelity Investments shows that surprising result -- as well as a widespread lack of understanding of how Social Security works. For instance, "56% do not know when they will be eligible for full Social Security benefits (age 66 for those born 1943-54)," Fidelity said. About a third wrongly think that all benefits are exempt from taxes. Applying at age 62 locks you in at a lower benefit for life (with one exception we'll describe below.) Is it really worth settling for a lower standard of living just to increase the chances that you'll collect Social Security for a few extra years?
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Posted
Jun 12 2008, 01:49 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Adjusting your household budget to cover the higher price of gas can be tricky enough. Imagine having to balance the deficit-ridden federal budget. You can give it a whack at American Public Media's Budget Hero. It's fun, it's interactive, and it has really cool sound effects. Nothing like hearing the glass shattering when the budget you devise is out of control.
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Posted
May 19 2008, 07:14 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Do you want to be absolutely sure that you'll work many long years and retire with little more than a paltry Social Security check? Then make sure you read and obey Kevin's "10 steps to avoid becoming a millionaire" at No Debt Plan. This blogger manages to put a humorous spin on a very sobering topic. Here's No. 6: "Ignore work benefits. 401(k) plan? Sounds kind of funny to me. Why would the company want to give me money? Plus, I'd miss that 3% in every paycheck."
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Posted
Dec 13 2007, 11:57 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
We hope the creep who took Glblguy's debit card reads his post at Gather Little by Little. It contains a personal message: "You are a thief, and in my opinion pure scum." Total damage done: $877.35, including $280 in overdraft fees. What made matters worse is that Glblguy and family were on a mini-vacation and ended up running out of funds. "Fortunately we had enough gas to make it home, but just barely," he writes. What did he learn from this experience? He needs better access to his emergency funds, and it's probably best to take extra cash on trips. He says, "I even considered carrying a credit card again." Luckily he called his bank when he first noticed the charges, and it made good on the stolen amount and canceled the overdraft fees.
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Posted
Nov 02 2007, 03:33 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The Dough Roller 's financial assets weren't inherited. What he got from his upbringing was an appreciation for a dollar and what life is like without a sufficient supply of them. His candid account his stepfather's bad financial decisions (DR lived with his mother and stepfather) and their impact on the family contains many stark lessons about money and life . We'll share this detail from his post: The death of his father in a car crash entitled DR to Social Security benefits, which were used to pay his stepfather's bills and avoid bankruptcy. The post ends with DR's summary of insights he gained. Among them: "We are the sum of our circumstances multiplied by our choices. Each of our circumstances differs but they almost always involve struggles. From those struggles, we can learn and we can choose."
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