Waiting to collect Social Security benefits past Early Retirement Age (62) is financially rewarding, as the System increases your monthly benefit for every month you delay filing. The annualized increase is about 8%, which constitutes an excellent guaranteed annual benefit increase. The (now defunct) unlimited “do-over” provision took advantage of this by increasing the benefit as if no benefits had been collected.

For generations, FRA was 65, and for “good” reason; most people didn’t live long. As strange as that may sound, the Social Security System was not designed to be a retirement income system. Rather, it was a “safety net” for those who defied the odds and lived well past average life expectancy. Since Social Security is an insurance-based system, and not a classic welfare system, it has been accepted as an integral part of the fabric of American society.

The idea of a ‘wealth tax’ goes against one of the basic principles that this country was founded on. In America, we reward those that work hard, have great ideas, and run successful companies...

As strange as it sounds, your “Full Benefit” is not the maximum Social Security benefit you may receive. It is simply the amount you would receive monthly should you start claiming benefits upon attaining your Full Retirement Age.

We have previously written about the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have not qualified for Social Security benefits. These are largely workers who apply their skills and perform work as independent contractors. Whether paid in cash or by check, their wages are difficult for the government to track. Therefore, many of these workers simply ignore the reporting and tax-paying demands of the Internal Revenue Service and, by inference, Social Security and Medicare. They will not qualify for benefits unless they start paying taxes.

For most of us, our Social Security benefits constitute an important part of our retirement income needs. Social Security is fundamentally a lifetime annuity system, and like all annuities, it is very complex. Maximizing lifetime benefits is our own responsibility, yet many Americans are woefully unaware of the myriad possibilities for collecting.

The U.S. Tax Code has long provided an incentive for charitable givers, in the form of an itemized tax deduction for contributions to eligible charities. For taxpayers who itemize deductions on their returns, this directly decreased their tax bill. Was that tax deduction the reason these people supported their charities? Would they continue to give if that deduction were eliminated?

There are still ways to reduce your 2018 taxes, even though 2018 has come and gone. The best way is to contribute to an IRA, and you have up until tax day to do it!

We continually ask ourselves the operative question, “What changed?”. We are probably smarter to ignore politics, but that is difficult in tumultuous times like these. Nonetheless, cooler heads will always prevail, but when that will start is anyone’s guess.