Money

5 Reasons to Retire in Florida … and 4 Reasons to Think Twice. Come for the sunshine, low taxes and endless golf, but be prepared for hurricanes, roof rats and tourist hordes. By Bob Niedt. Published November 28, 2023. https://www.aarp.org/retirement/planning-for-retirement/info-2023/retiring-in-florida.html 

FROM ARTICLE - SEE ARTICLE FOR MORE! Medicare and Social Security Are Critical to a Secure Retirement, Say Americans 50+. By Rebecca Perron, AARP Research & Teresa A. Keenan, AARP Research. Published May 06, 2024. The importance of Social Security and Medicare to Americans age 50-plus cannot be overstated, according to the first annual AARP survey that explores feelings about these programs.Key Findings Nearly all Americans age 50-plus say Social Security and Medicare are important for financial security in retirement, including 90% who say Social Security is very important and 84% who say Medicare is very important. Though they see these programs as important, Americans age 50-plus express skepticism over the future of Social Security and Medicare. Nearly 9 in 10 are worried that Social Security (87%) and Medicare (88%) will not be able to provide at least the same level of benefits in *** USE LINK AT BOTTOM OF THIS POST TO READ THIS ARTICLE ***

I  was fortunate to have a pension and took a lump sum after over 20 years. It was a contributory pension that allowed me to contribute 1.5% of my salary monthly for a higher pension.I'd like to calculate the performance as if it was an investment. I have each monthly investment amount, which is not consistent due to my salary changing. I also have the final lump sum amount. Is there a spreadsheet template that would allow me to put each individual amount (around 312) and the final amount to get a performance metric?

i have a long clean and accident free driving record since 1967.....last year thru the hartfod/aarp i was paying $669.00 a year...and my driving...i am now 74...is about 1-2 hours a week! so what would you think about car insurance?....well....the Hartford thinks i should pay $969.00 a year! A $330.00 INCREASE!!!!...i know most of us oldies do not drive as much as we did when were were all working...but...its obvious...THE HARTFORD is using the aarp /"partenership" to rape every old person in this country! remember the "big S.S.increase we all got 2 years ago...the hartford ceo needs that money for another mansion...yacht...or island......the solution is easy: drop the insurance and eat again!;;;;;;;;;;;;screw the law!!!;;;;;;;;;;;

  For those who would like to read it themselves -  straight from the horses’ mouth, so to speak.   2024 Social Security Trustee Report Summary   Sometimes other media outlets tend to emphasize somethings in the report rather than others -     So is the outlook really any better?  Not in my book -  personally with employment doing so well and with wages being way up - I was really expecting more as it relates to extending the SS programs of Retirement and Survivors (OASI).   Yes, the SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) seems to be doing better but remember we have OVER a million disability claims that are backlogged at the present time.https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/01/over-1-million-people-are-waiting-on-social-security-disability-claims.html    For those who are retired or are almost to that point:  (from the link) -   Based on our best estimates, this year's reports sh

Does anyone know if I am able to check on the status of my son's social security benefit payment. He lives with my ex-wife and neither of them will communicate with me. My son turned 18 in January of 2024, so does that mean his benefit has stopped automatically? I read about the ability to extend it if the child is enrolled in a school under grade 12, but he was home schooled his entire life. Am I able to check online somewhere if his benefit has stopped?

From what I have read, ever since the housing bubble burst, more people are renting instead of buying homes, causing rents to soar.  Investing in apartment buildings has become profitable, and the companies managing them are more interested in generating profits for their investors than they are in the welfare of their tenants.  However, the knowledge that I am in a crowded, leaking boat does not help me prevent it from sinking. When I moved into my one bedroom apartment fifteen years ago, I could afford it.  Now, I manage to pay my rent from the income I derive from Social Security and my part time job.  Each year, the rent increases get larger and more monthly fees for services I neither need nor use are added.  As a result, I've turned frugality into a near art form, trimming all the fat I can from my budget, but I recoil at cutting into its muscle and bone.  What awaits me when my lease expires in February 2020 deeply concerns me. My previous

I am 64 but have not filed for SSI. My wife is also 64 but already filed for SSI when she was 63. My benefit will be significantly higher than hers. My question is does the benefit for her as a survivor, should I die first, be greater if I wait until 70 to file, or is it maxed out at my FRA of 67?  That is presuming I don't die until after the age of 70. And I realize she cannot receive both hers and mine. Thank you 

   Hi:   I retired in 2022 and was charged a part D monthly adjustment in 2022 for high income reported on 2020 tax return filed in April 2021. May I file for a refund based on 2022 income? If so do I use Form SSA-44?Or am I out of luck because I did not file SSA-44 in 2022 when I retired?

 Married 40 years.  Divorced 9 months.  Ex (age 74) started collecting SS 9 years ago.  I just reached full retirement age (66.5). Social security told me that I could not collect under his name because I was not divorced for TWO years yet and to reapply then. Said that rule applied was across the board - applied to everyone. According to AARP, the two year rule only applies if EX has not started SS yet. Who is correct? If AARP is correct, how do I fight this with SS?

ANYONE MOVED BACK TO THEIR "HOMETOWN" TO RETIRE OR LEFT FLORIDA OR WANT TO MOVE TO FLORIDA?  🤔  WELL, I AM LIVING IN "BOTH" FLORIDA AND VIRGINIA WHILE I "VERY SLOWLY" MOVE BACK TO FLORIDA. RETIRED!  😎 FROM THE ARTICLE - SEE ARTICLE FOR MORE. Is the Rust Belt Right for Your Affordable Retirement? Older industrial cities tout low-cost housing, revitalized downtowns to draw back retirees with local roots. By Michael Anft, AARP. Published March 13, 2024. When a couple of financial adviser Ryan Carney’s clients grew tired of retirement living in Florida last year, they picked up stakes and returned to their old hometown, the Sunshine State’s polar opposite: Buffalo, New York. Low living costs, well-established health care facilities, a downtown makeover and proximity to Niagara Falls have helped make the Rust Belt city on Lake Erie more attractive to retirees like them, despite its lake-effect snowstorms and subzero temperatures. https://w

Situation, Wife has no credits, Husband does.  Both over 65 now, Got married a few years ago, waited the one year and she now receives the 50% of his.  Now if they Divorce well under the 10 year mark, will she loose her 50% and get nothing since she has no credits?

 Hello Again,  Three years ago My 86 year old Mother-in-law who lost her husband who was receiving Social Security Retirement. She called to inquire about Survivor’s Benefits as a Widow & was told she was eligible for a certain amount every month. She had been receiving it until she received a letter from Social Security stating that she should not have received it & has to pay them back. I don’t agree that ANYONE should have to repay Social Security due to the errors of those employees who should KNOW about Social Security. They are mistreating the vulnerable & giving them the run around also in having them do telephone interviews as well. They know the majority probably aren’t tech savvy either. It’s happening a lot now & something needs to be done about it.

     My ex husband passed Nov 1, 2023. We divorced Jan 4 2014 after being separated for several yrs I became disabled Jan10 2014. I was 54.  I remarried Sept 5 2015 at age 55. Am I eligible to survivor benefits? I was told yes by 2 employees of Social Security and no by 2 other employees. I received a denial because I remarried before 60 and was verbally told because I’m over 60.  Anyone know where I can get legal assistance?

FROM THE ARTICLE - SEE ARTICLE FOR MORE! Social Security Struggles to Improve Customer Service. Hiring freeze amid congressional spending standoff sets back efforts to reduce phone wait times, speed up disability claims, SSA says. By Andy Markowitz, AARP. Published April 10, 2024. *** USE LINK AT BOTTOM OF THIS POST TO READ THIS ARTICLE *** [1] Then enter Email Address you used to sign in to use This Site.   [2] Then enter the password you use.   [3] Lastly, there are 3 LETTERS that will "pop up" as their SECURITY CHECK. Enter those.   [4] Then click log in. https://www.aarp.org/retirement/social-security/info-2024/hiring-freeze-customer-service.html

In 2006 I converted a 401k via a 72T mechanism that put the proceeds into a variable annuity (VA). I have been drawing a monthly benefit from that account to date. I was recently advised that I have the opportunity to convert the variable annuity to a life annuity by relinquishing the balance in the account. If I do this I will receive a monthly benefit equal to or greater than the one I am currently receiving. If I don't convert and the account goes to zero due to withdrawls and/or market conditions then the account ceases and I get nothing. There is no choice ofcourse and I will be conerting to the life annuity. However, I have two concerns/questions relating to RMD: 1 - The Variable Annuity (VA) has been accepted as satisfying the RMD which I started in 2023 (the year I became 73). If I convert to the Life Annuity (LA) will that also satisfy the RMD (the amount will be sufficient). The RMD during the VA was based on the fact that the account was originally a deferred retirement

There has been many "discussions" about Car Insurance on this site. Many of us are on a FIXED INCOME in Retirement or LOW INCOME still working. Now there are OPTIONS like Public Transportation or maybe Uber. But I saw recently where Uber has been PULLING OUT of certain locations. Anyway, would luv to hear from you guys!  👵

Throughout the web site here, I see AARP advertising a membership discount of $4.00 if you agree to AUTOMATIC RENEWAL. I don't ever agree to AUTOMATIC RENEWAL for any subscription type service, be it a membership to an organization, a magazine, or a club. For the last five years, I have had an AARP membership for a total of $31 with no AUTOMATIC RENEWAL required. Imagine my surprise when I received a renewal notice that wanted $63 for the next five years.....a 100% increase. On top of that they wanted to place me in an AUTOMATIC RENEWAL program. As I have said before, when it comes to subscriptions, and you aren't satisfied with the renewal terms, call the entity....be it XM radio, a magazine, or even, AARP. I called and tried to negotiate the same terms I had the last five years. I figured that wasn't going to be offered again and I was right....however.......I did negotiate a renewal of $45 for five years without an AUTOMATIC RENEWAL requirement. That is a 25% dis

If you have set up your mySocialSecurity account you are able to name your choice of a Representative Payee (RP) then each year the SSA will send you a letter stating who they currently on file for you.   You can change it at any time. SSA does not recognize your POA even if you have one - they need to have this RP on your file.  The RP acts on your behalf in managing your SS benefit when for some reason you can’t.    This goes for managing your benefit to your benefit to being able to change your address on the SS file or talk to them about any SS matter.So do it today - set one up.  If they don’t have this named authority, then if something happens it just makes it really hard for someone to act for your - and in some situations, the SSA could actually appoint someone or some institution to handle your affairs. SSA.gov - Identify someone to manage benefits for you You also need to do a designate on Medicare - the person you want to be

ANY COMMENTS?  🤔  NOW RETIRED, WHEN I WAS WORKING - ALWAYS RECEIVED A REFUND!  👵 FROM THE ARTICLE - SEE ARTICLE FOR MORE. Don’t panic — but do pay the tax tab. By  Patricia Amend, AARP. Published March 29, 2024. Bills are a fact of life, though some require more urgent attention than others. Ignore your brother-in-law because you still owe him $50 from last year’s poker game, and you’ll get the cold shoulder. Ignore your debt to Uncle Sam, and the consequences will be much more costly. *** USE LINK AT BOTTOM OF THIS POST TO READ THIS ARTICLE *** [1] Then enter Email Address you used to sign in to use This Site.   [2] Then enter the password you use.   [3] Lastly, there are 3 LETTERS that will "pop up" as their SECURITY CHECK. Enter those.   [4] Then click log in.     https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/info-2024/large-tax-bill-money.html

I need help completing the form for claiming amounts due in the case of a deceased beneficiary.Question #1...name of surviving widow - that's me...I entered my SS#, I answered "yes" to living in the same household with the deceased at the time of death...my question is with the last part: "Was he or she entitled to a monthly benefit on the same earnings record as the deceased at the time of death?" Yes or No?We were both over 70 and were claiming our own SS benefit based on our own earnings records. His is a larger amount...so I am awaiting an appointment with my local SS office to switch that over...but in the meanwhile I am confused by the "entitled". I think the right answer is NO...because I have my own earnings record...but i don't want to mess this up.Thank you in advance. 

AARP has represented and helped senior citizens in many different categories over the years.  AARP has assisted in major role in Washington to help persuading our politicians to continue helping our American senior citizens.  But there is one area I don't think AARP has considered nor the politicians in Washington DC .  As my wife and I have reached the age of 65, it has become extremely burdensome to carry her student loan payments.  Yes, my wife cumulate the student loans later in life and she went back to school and graduated with her degree in 1997, but still carries the student loan payments of over, $400 a month.   With Washington giving away money to help young folks with children and stimulus money benefits in lump sums to millions of Americans help them through the hard times of this pandemic, there is still a need to help senior citizens that are carrying the student loans into the retirement years.  Theref

Consumer Cellular did it to me for the last time. First, there's the weak signal everywhere, even though they are using other networks, whose own subscribers have good signals. Then came the relentless upward creep in price, though the unexplained "compliance fee." (They pretend this is something different from a regular old price hike.) But today I woke to email saying that I was taken off the unlimited plan — with no word on what the new plan was — and no longer eligible for the illusory two for $55 plan — with no indication of what new price they were going to charge me. Was this phishing? I went to the web site to check. It was down. Page load times with many minutes and no information was ever served up. So then I called. I waited half an hour while the recorded voice told me about Consumer Cellular's "award-winning customer service." When I finally got through to a human, she told me that all AARP plan customers got this message, and all the time I'd wasted wa

IS YOUR BANK/CREDIT UNION/FINANCIAL ADVISORY FIRM ON THIS LIST?  🤔  MINE IS NOT - TRUIST BANK!  😎 FROM ARTICLE - SEE ARTICLE FOR MORE. By Natalie Missakian, March 12, 2024. Banks, credit unions and financial advisory firms are arming their employees with the information and training needed to recognize and stop financial exploitation before it happens. This month, AARP gave 167 financial organizations our BankSafe Trained Seal, acknowledging their commitment to fighting financial exploitation, which costs older adults more than $28.3 billion a year in the U.S. (when factoring in cases that go unreported). https://blog.aarp.org/fighting-for-you/bank-safe-financial-exploitation-prevention-seal