social security

Earnings after retirement

Q: I am 73 and still working part time. I took my Social Security at age 66. I have never seen an increase in my Social Security check, even though I am still paying into the system. What’s up?

There's a reason for all the rules

Sometimes readers take me to task for not explaining a particular facet of the law when I write a column about some Social Security topic or another.

Social Security for divorced women

My wife and I and a group of our neighbors were chatting the other day, and it dawned on us that there are eight houses in a row on our block in which each of the couples has been married for more than 50 years! Well, not quite. My wife and I are the “newlyweds” on the street.

Social Security: Don't blame the government

Sometimes people will write to me complaining that the government, specifically the Social Security Administration, has messed up and cheated them out of benefits they might have been due.

The best Social Security book I've read

I just finished reading the best book about Social Security that I have ever read. In just under 100 pages, the author explains everything you’d probably ever need to know about our nation’s bedrock social insurance program.

Protective filing dates

This is going to be a column about a special procedure that the Social Security Administration routinely uses that is intended to help people by protecting their rights to possible benefits. It’s called a “protective filing date.

Social Security information online

I’m sure lots of my readers are always looking for Social Security information online. So am I. Even though I’ve got 50 years’ worth of Social Security knowledge stacked up in my brain, it sometimes gets a little muddled and I need to check something out or verify what I think I know.

Carrying a Social Security grudge

I’m always amazed by the number of emails I get from people who have been getting benefits for 10 years, or 20 years, or even more – and now they are coming to me with questions about their benefit amount.

'Welfare' for disabled kids with wealthy parents

Q: I have a neighbor who is in his early 50s. He is a pilot for a major airline and makes pretty good money. He and his wife have several children, one of whom has Down syndrome. I have heard that this 21-year-old son is collecting about $2,000 per month in welfare benefits from Social Security.

Maids and nannies and Social Security

Sometimes I think my wife and I are the last middle-class couple in the country who haven’t hired a maid to clean the house. I know we are the last couple in our neighborhood who are “maidless.