Every fall, tens of millions of retirees wait to learn how much bigger their Social Security check will be, and the early forecasts are starting to come in. One closely watched estimate now puts the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment near 3.6 percent, which would add roughly $70 a month to the average retiree’s benefit. It is…

Most people think of Social Security as a check for the retired worker and maybe a spouse. But the program can also pay benefits to a worker’s minor children and to a spouse who is caring for those children, on top of the worker’s own benefit. For a family with young or dependent children and…

Deciding when to start Social Security is one of the biggest money choices most retirees make, and waiting can pay off in a way few other decisions do. For every year you delay claiming past your full retirement age, your benefit grows by about 8%, up to age 70. Someone whose full retirement age is…

If one spouse earned far more than the other over a working lifetime, Social Security has a rule that can lift the lower earner’s check considerably. A spouse can collect a benefit worth up to half of the higher earner’s full retirement amount, even with little or no earnings record of their own. For a…

For decades, a lot of retired teachers, police officers, and firefighters watched their Social Security checks come in far smaller than they expected, or not at all, because of two rules most people had never heard of. Congress repealed both of those rules, and the result has been real money landing in real bank accounts.…

The single date that most shapes how much your Social Security check is worth is your full retirement age, and for a large group of Americans that age has finished its long climb to 67. If you were born in 1960 or later, 67 is now the age at which you can collect your full…

Few letters land harder than one from Social Security saying it paid you too much and now wants the money back. For retirees living close to the edge of their monthly check, an overpayment notice can feel like a threat to the rent. The reassuring news is that the process for pushing back has become…

Deciding when to claim a Social Security survivor’s benefit is one of the most consequential money choices a widow or widower makes, and it is often made in grief, with incomplete information, and under pressure to just get something coming in. A federal watchdog found that filing too early, without hearing all the options, cost…

For tens of millions of retirees, one October announcement sets the size of every Social Security check for the following year. The latest forecast points to a raise in the neighborhood of 3.8 percent for 2027, which would add somewhere around $77 a month to a typical retirement benefit. It is a projection, not a…

The financial consequence of Social Security’s collection policy can reach a survivor before an estate is settled is easier to miss than the large number. An official source now fixes the amount, date and status for Social Security’s collection policy can reach a survivor before an estate is settled. Reading the official pieces together shows…