You may have read that the Social Security Trust Fund is due to be depleted in 2033, a year earlier than previous projections. This sounds alarming, except for several caveats. First, the projected date of depletion has been in the 2035 range for the past decade, so this shift is really nothing new—or particularly alarming.… Continue Reading Will Social Security Go Bust?
Tax Code Anomalies
Congress is getting ready to revise the U.S. tax code once again, and you can bet that the final version won’t be subtracting any pages from a document that now contains nearly 10,000 selections and two million words. Over the past 10 years, alone, the tax code has been amended or revised over 4,000 times,… Continue Reading Tax Code Anomalies
Social Security Workshop – Lewisburg
You (and your friends) are invited to join a Social Security Benefit Options educational workshop hosted by Ash in Lewisburg! See the attached flyer below for more details. Register online at rsvp.org/421801
Social Security Workshop – Lock Haven
You (and your friends) are invited to join a Social Security Benefit Options educational workshop hosted by Ash in Lock Haven! See the attached flyer below for more details. Register online at rsvp.org/421274 *Note: GPS address for classroom is 399 W. Church St., class will be held in room EC J-101
Oldest State Populations
The U.S. state with the oldest population has to be Florida, right? That’s where elderly people from the Northeast go to retire. Actually, no. Surprisingly, when you measure each state (and territory) by the median age of its citizens, you find that Maine is America’s oldest state, with a median age of 45.0 years old.… Continue Reading Oldest State Populations
State GDP Equivalents
Sometimes it’s not easy to realize just how big the U.S. economy is compared with the rest of the world. But a recent graphic published by the GZero organization gives a pretty good hint. Look at the map, and notice that North Dakota—one of the smallest states in the U.S. in terms of economic activity… Continue Reading State GDP Equivalents
The Eternal Olympic Boondoggle
What’s more eternal than the famous Olympic Eternal Flame? Eternal cost overruns by Olympic sponsoring nations. By all accounts, the Tokyo Olympics are extremely unpopular among Japanese citizens, and the reasons have nothing to do with the resurgence of COVID in that country. The events are taking place with no live spectators allowed in the… Continue Reading The Eternal Olympic Boondoggle
Inflation Fears in Perspective
The U.S. inflation rate hit 5.4% before scaling back a bit to 5%—rates which have raised alarms among investors, economists and most importantly the financial press. But how bad are these recent jumps in consumer prices compared with the rest of the world? If you look at inflation rates for other countries, our current CPI… Continue Reading Inflation Fears in Perspective
Inflation and Social Security
Every year since 1975, the Social Security Administration has automatically adjusted its benefit payments upward to account for inflation; the goal is for the payments to keep pace with the cost of living that recipients are experiencing. For the past decade, these inflation adjustments have been pretty modest, as you can see in the chart.… Continue Reading Inflation and Social Security
Build Connections Post-Covid
As vaccine rollouts continue to progress, folks are starting to tiptoe out of their quarantine bubbles. But once the euphoria from that first dinner in a restaurant or group hang without masks passes, some people might find that reestablishing the personal connections that COVID-19 interrupted could take more effort than anticipated. As frustrating as lockdowns… Continue Reading Build Connections Post-Covid