American workers who are eligible for benefits can claim Social Security as early as age 62, although full retirement age isn’t until at least 66. The most common age at which people file for their Social Security retirement benefit — you guessed it — 62. It’s easy to see why many people want that money […]
Category: Personal Finance
Social Security Could Be Short 11 Trillion Dollars
President-elect Donald Trump has said he will preserve Social Security, though if he and Congress do nothing to fix the funding, the financial reckoning will be huge — as much as $11.4 trillion down the road. The last time Congress changed Social Security in a significant way with a series of benefit cuts and payroll […]
Government Estimates Cost Of Raising Child To Age 17 Is Over $230,000
WASHINGTON — Expecting a baby? Congratulations! Better put plenty of money in your savings account. The Department of Agriculture says the estimated cost of raising a child from birth through age 17 is $233,610, or as much as almost $14,000 annually. That’s the average for a middle-income couple with two children. It’s a bit more […]
Top Republicans Unveil Plan To Drastically Cut Social Security And Medicare
WASHINGTON ― President-elect Donald Trump distinguished himself on the campaign trail as the rare Republican candidate promising not to cut Social Security and Medicare. But Republicans in Congress have other plans for the two popular social insurance programs ― and they are wasting no time rolling them out. Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas), chairman of the House […]
Single Parent Families Will Have Higher Taxes Under Trump Plan
President-elect Donald Trump’s proposals would modestly cut income taxes for most middle-class Americans. But for nearly 8 million families — including a majority of single-parent households — the opposite would occur: They’d pay more. Most married couples with three or more children would also pay higher taxes, an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center […]
Megadonors lost $112 million on losing candidates in election
Ted Cruz was a frugal spender when he ran for president earlier this year. Four super PACs supporting the Republican senator from Texas raised $45 million. But after Cruz dropped out of the race in May, some of those donors got a lot of their money back. Energy investor Toby Neugebauer donated $10 million to […]
Mail Fraud: Scammers Posing as IRS via USPS
Criminals are constantly finding new ways to con Americans out of money, and the latest attempt involves thieves claiming to be from the IRS. And while IRS scams have been around for years, fraudsters are carrying them out in new and different ways every day — so it’s crucial for consumers to stay up to date on how to […]
Social Mobility is Stagnant
That’s because, in large part, inequality starts in the crib. Rich parents can afford to spend more time and money on their kids, and that gap has only grown the past few decades. Indeed, economists Greg Duncan and Richard Murnane calculate that, between 1972 and 2006, high-income parents increased their spending on “enrichment activities” for their […]
Wells Fargo Criminal Investigation Underway
Wells Fargo is under criminal investigation for identity theft by the state of California, the latest fallout from its fake account scandal. California Attorney General Kamala Harris said in a warrant that there is probable cause to think the San Francisco-based bank committed felonies including identity theft and false impersonation. Wells Fargo has drawn the […]
Historically Low Raise to Social Security to Take Effect
Millions of Social Security recipients and federal retirees will get a 0.3 percent increase in monthly benefits next year, the fifth year in a row that older Americans will have to settle for historically low raises. The adjustment adds up to a monthly increase of less than $4 a month for an average recipient. The […]
Three very rich men discuss Trump, taxes, and the 1%
Pickens made the disclosure about his tax bill to CNN’s Carol Costello in a joint interview with billionaires Ken Langone and Leon Cooperman. The conversation touched on the three men’s wealth, their charitable work, and the current presidential election. Pickens, who fell off the Forbes billionaires list in 2014, said he isn’t paying taxes because […]
Unlike Trump, Warren Buffet pays his taxes
Donald Trump is a master of the “I am rubber and you are glue” approach to political rhetoric, but at Sunday night’s presidential debate, he tried a novel variant on the strategy. After Anderson Cooper asked him point blank if he used his $916 million reported loss from his 1995 tax return to avoid income […]