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AUTHORS: Jennifer Climo Jean Fullerton Jonathan Harrington Nick Prigitano Jenna-Rose Finnie Kyle Labelle

Social Security Scams

December 31, 2021 Social Security Jonathan Harrington

Social Security numbers are the gateway to identity theft, and fraudsters and scammers try to use scare tactics on unwitting individuals to get them to disclose their Social Security numbers or pay money for a Social Security-related scam. The Federal Trade Commission received reports of more than $174 million lost to government imposter scams in 2020. The bottom line is that the Social Security Administration (SSA) will never contact you by phone, text, or email with any problems related to your Social Security account. Do not give scammers money or personal information. Just ignore them!

Financial Planning for Unmarried Couples

December 17, 2021 Taxes Social Security Estate Planning Investments LGBTQ+ Jennifer Climo

Financial and tax planning advice is relatively easy to find online for married couples and single individuals. However, according to the U.S. census, about 8% of adults live with an unmarried partner. When you are living with a long-term partner, you may think of yourself as married for most purposes, but the law treats you very differently than it does a married couple. It is important to understand these differences, as they can have a dramatic impact on your lifetime taxes paid. It used to be that if you were LGBTQ+ and in a relationship, you were going to be an unmarried couple, as the federal government did not recognize same-sex marriage. This all changed in 2015, when gay marriage was made legal by a Supreme Court decision. However, many LGBTQ+ couples were long disgusted by the lack of marriage equity and chose to remain unmarried even after the court decision. This means there are still many unmarried LGBTQ+ couples.

Financial Planning for your 60s - What to Consider

January 20, 2021 Fiduciary Taxes Social Security Retirement

Financial planning, and the considerations involved, vary greatly depending on where you are in life. A typical benchmark for what life events you may be experiencing is your age. While there will clearly be overlaps from decade to decade, there are some unique circumstances that certain age groups will experience. In this series, we will review some of the common financial planning topics during many decades of life. We thought a good place to start would be financial planning considerations for someone in their 60s. Some common questions for those in this age group include: -When to go on Medicare, and what plan to choose? -When to take Social Security? -What will your taxes look like in retirement? -What will you do with your time?

How Much Can I Contribute to My 401(k), IRA or HSA in 2021

November 13, 2020 Social Security Retirement Investments

It's just about the time of year when many people begin to experience the holiday rush. Believe it or not, Thanksgiving is only a couple weeks away, and Christmas a mere four weeks after that! During this time, many people will be excited for the upcoming days off from work and the time to reconnect with friends and family (although it may be digitally this year).

Social Security Retirement Payments at the Death of a Spouse

September 11, 2020 Social Security

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is generally an extremely difficult entity to communicate with, especially around the death of a spouse. Family members may have a difficult time making sense of how the SSA handles the final payments of retirement benefits and death benefits, especially if they get conflicting information from letters received by the SSA after the spouse’s death.

Financial Planning Considerations During COVID-19

March 26, 2020 Taxes Social Security Retirement Working Professionals Families Estate Planning Cash Management Investments

Health and finances are likely the only two topics on most people's minds these days. How can you keep yourself and your loved ones safe and healthy through this pandemic? And what should you do with your investments during this recent market drop? Managing your investments prudently and resisting the urge to sell stocks while the market is down are certainly important financial planning considerations. However, as financial advisors, we wanted to highlight other crucial financial planning areas that often don't get as much attention in the news media.

Are Social Security Benefits Tax-Free? - Not Exactly

December 13, 2019 Taxes Social Security Retirement

It's a common misconception to believe that Social Security benefits are tax-free. While that is the case for some people, for many Americans, some or even most of their Social Security income will be taxable. When does Social Security become taxable? Read further to find out.

Think You Lost An Old Financial Account? Where You Might Be Able To Find It

June 7, 2019 Social Security Retirement Working Professionals Families Cash Management Investments

In today's world, an individual's personal finances are ever changing and throughout each of our lifetimes we will have dozens of financial accounts. Think about how many times you may have changed banks, insurance companies, retirement plans, etc. Sometimes we create new accounts and forget about the old ones. Trying to track down old accounts doesn't have to be a nightmare because the internet makes it easier than ever to try and track down old accounts.

To Delay, or Not To Delay. That is the Question

January 25, 2019 Taxes Social Security Retirement

For most people, from the time they begin work they also start paying Social Security taxes. For many, the time to collect comes up faster than they think, and they are forced to answer the question, when do I collect? As financial advisors this is a question we help our clients with on a regular basis. We hope to give you some thoughts on the age-old question, to delay, or not to delay.

Protecting Vulnerable Social Security Recipients

July 10, 2018 Social Security

The new Strengthening Protections for Social Security Beneficiaries Act of 2018 adds protections for any elderly, disabled, or minor Social Security recipient where their benefit is paid to someone else representing them.

Social Security - Claiming Your Enhanced Age 70 Benefit

January 4, 2018 Social Security Retirement

The government gives you the option of taking a reduced pension early (as early as 62) or an enhanced pension later (as late as age 70) - smaller payments for a longer time or larger payments for a shorter time. On average it works out the same for the government.

Public Pension Effect On Social Security Benefits

November 3, 2017 Social Security Retirement Working Professionals

Certain public sector employees who work in jobs where they don’t pay Social Security taxes are likely to find their Social Security benefits reduced or eliminated. If you are entitled to a ‘non-covered’ pension, you need to be aware of this impact.