Money

As a service, our financial institution provides, free of charge, our FICO score on a monthly basis. This month, my wife's score was lowered albeit by only one point. But the reason given is what concerns me. They lowered her score because....... wait for it......wait for it......wait for it SHE DIDN'T SPEND ENOUGH MONEY!!!!!! That's right, folks.  To me, that's counterintuitive. Can anybody explain why your FICO score should go down when you are careful with your money and save, save, save rather than spend, spend, spend????

Married, divorced or widowed and need to know about how these affect your Social Security benefits? Explore answers to make informed decisions about your benefits.   Social Security Spousal and Survivor Benefits Tuesday July 13, 7 p.m. ET & 7 p.m. PT  

We were married in 1978.We Divorced in 1999.Neither one of us ever re-married.My EX-Wife died in January of 2020 (21 years after we divorced) at age 60, she would have been 61 this past July.I will be 62 in a few weeks (Nov 2020).I retired in 2018 at 59. I have had no W2 earnings since and plans to.My earnings over our lifetime are higher than hers so my benefits will be higher.I'm researching survivor benefits and would like to apply for them. I meet the criteria that we were married longer than 10 years and I never remarried. From my research I can collect them and put off my own benefits and let them grow. Then when I decide to take mine at FRA or whenever the survivor benefits will stop. Also by taking the survivor benefits it will not reduce my own benefits. So with info I provided and I understanding this correctly? Thanx in advance for any input.

I'm retiring on September 30, 2025. If I select September as the month of election, my income for that month will exceed the $1950 limit resulting in no payment due in October. Since I won't have any countable income in October onward, I assume I should select October as the month of election, with the first payment to be received in November. Is my understanding correct?

Hi everyone! I'd like to warn you about the possibility of scam. Freewallet org is a website, created to commit online Fraud. It's owners, are Russian citizens Dmitry Gunyashov and Vasilii Mesheryakov.  Among investors, traders, and clients of other financial services, interest in cryptocurrencies is growing every year. Freewallet is named as a crypto wallet but actually it's a scam service , created to steal digital assets. I am writing this post because scammers order active advertising, including through mailings to clients of financial forums. I don’t know where they get the information, maybe they look at emails in user profiles somehow. Of course, they can't just hack your accounts. But if you receive a message advertising Freewallet, you should know that this is a scam mailing list!  

Ism anyone else hear sick of hearing the Save SS ad. I think you have already beaten that dead horse.

Discussion created on May 18, 2021 9:30am EST.Let's have some fun!!!Add your responses to - I know I am getting old because...Keep adding each day if you want to 😁

hello,I am helping my husband w/his SS benefits application. We started it online, but then paused it because it was too early to submit if he wanted benefits to start at age 70. So my question:His birthday is 11/1. When we complete the application for benefits, do we choose November as the start date? Or October? I know SS pays one month behind, but we've waited this long to start benefits; we do NOT want to start them a month early by mistake and miss out on the full retirement benefit amount.  If we are supposed to choose October as the start month, we can resume his application tomorrow. If we choose November, we have to wait another month. Thanks for any insight.

I'm interested in the idea of no taxes on Social Security benefits.  I understand that this is a campaign promise by a presidential candidate but feel it is something that AARP should support.

Does anyone have experience with this organization?  I received a letter from them offering to buy some property I own in Oklahoma.   Is it legitimate?  How can I know if it's a scam?

FROM THE ARTICLE: Social Security Drops 3-Day Hold on Benefit Claims by Phone.Application backlog grew as SSA added ID procedures, cut staff. By Andy Markowitz, AARP. Published May 23, 2025. A month after introducing new protocols intended to flag fraud risks on benefit applications made by phone, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has dropped a key element of the program that required a three-day hold on such claims before processing could begin.An SSA official said the updated policy took effect May 17. USE THE LINK BELOW TO READ THE ARTICLE. https://www.aarp.org/social-security/ssa-changes-phone-checks/

Will Social Security just deduct the difference from my workman's comp

There is no debate that a senior that has little income and NO other liquid assets would qualify for most all, if not all, helping-hand benefits like SNAP, Section 8, Medicaid.  Low income is defined as the Federal Proverty Level.   But what else should count or not?  A retirement account?  Savings which earns interest?  Individual stock holdings or a brokerage account with index funds or some other grouping of stock holdings?  The dividends/capital gains received from such holdings?An inheritance that is so substantial that the earnings from it pushes them over the FPL limits.self-employed income from whatever the source - how will Uncle Sam know if no tax documents are filed?Do all seniors file an annual tax return documenting their income for eligibility for various helping-hand benefits?   Some seniors and others get hit hard when they come into some extra money that produces added income either as a result of a COLA increase or some oth

Discussion created on April 18, 2021 9:50am EST.Adventurer - ventures into the unknown.Continuer - continues to do what they have been doing.Easy Glider - no  agenda.Searcher - figuring out next move.Lol, you are unique and do not have a type!!! 😂🤣Stop by to read the comments and/or leave a comment. We luv hearing from you!

FROM THE ARTICLE: 11 Ways You’re Spending Too Much on Groceries. It’s not just inflation. Your bad habits may explain why you’re paying too much for groceries. By Cameron Huddleston, AARP. *** There are 40 Comments on the AARP website *** Published March 11, 2025. Retirees living on fixed incomes have been feeling the pinch of rising grocery costs.Grocery prices in February rose 2.6 percent year-over-year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index. For some items, such as eggs, price hikes have been much steeped. USE THIS LINK TO READ THE ARTICLE: https://www.aarp.org/money/personal-finance/overspending-on-groceries.html

FROM THE ARTICLE: Assistance Looming for Older Adults as Tax Bill Progresses.Keep vital SNAP benefits intact, AARP tells lawmakers. By Deirdre van Dyk, AARP. Published May 15, 2025. Some older adults could lose access to food assistance under new federal legislation that proposes cuts to the program that helps low-income Americans buy groceries.A Republican plan to slash $300 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would, for the first time, require adults ages 55 to 64 to meet stringent work requirements and shift responsibility for funding up to 25 percent of SNAP benefits to states. USE LINK BELOW TO READ THE ARTICLE: https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/advocacy/info-2025/cuts-to-snap-benefits.html

I hope someone on here has an answer to my question. I have searched the internet for days and have not found the answer. I plan on drawing my social security mid year (Beginning July, 2025), and my question is about the earnings test. The answer I keep getting is, if you go over $1950 per month you will not receive a check for that month. This I know for sure. But does the earnings test (1$ for every 2$ you earn) count if you begin drawing mid year. I may make about $500 over each month which means they will take $250 (if the earnings test counts when you start drawing mid year) . Will I receive the remain balance at the beginning of the following year when the annual limit kicks in or do I lose all that money. 

▶️To reply, click on reply button at bottom of this post. Enter your text. Click reply button again.◀️ ***Read comments and/or comment*** What would you TELL the YOUNGSTERS out there about retirement? 🤔 Thanks, Nicole 👴👵 (Retirement Forum)

My wife and I are looking to move to a Latin American country (Mexico, Costa Rica, or Panama) and I'd like to know if anyone has recommendations on legal services that can help with the process of applying for residency. Both my wife and I are US citizens living in North Texas.Or even better if there is a one stop shop for legal services and the actual physical relocation.

FROM THE ARTICLE: AARP Backs Effort to Improve SSA's Assistance for Identity Fraud Victims.Congressional bill calls for streamlining help for older adults whose Social Security numbers have been stolen or misused. By Christina Ianzito, AARP. Published May 12, 2025. Identity fraud has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S, costing Americans an estimated $47 billion in 2024, with roughly 15 million victims, according to “Resolving the Shattered Identity Crisis,” an AARP-sponsored report from Javelin Strategy & Research. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received 1.13 million identity theft reports in 2024, up from 650,000 in 2019.Social Security numbers in particular are like gold to criminals hoping to perpetrate identity fraud, which often leaves victims to “face a daunting and frustrating process to reclaim their identity,” notes Bill Sweeney, AARP’s senior vice president for government affairs. USE LINK BELOW TO READ THE ARTICLE: https://www.aarp.org/p

FROM THE ARTICLE: 16 Million Older Americans are Not Claiming Their Food Benefits, AARP Reports.As food insecurity and hunger rates rise, SNAP benefits are going unused. *** There are 3 Comments on the AARP website. *** By Emily Paulin, AARP. Published April 04, 2025. Nearly 60 percent of low-income older adults who qualify for federal food assistance aren’t using it, according to a new analysis by AARP’s Public Policy Institute. Some 16 million — or 59 percent — of adults 50-plus who could get help paying for food through the U.S. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in 2022 did not claim it.“Millions of older adults are missing out on benefits that could have a big impact on their livelihood,” says AARP’s Olivia Dean, senior policy advisor and co-author of the report published March 28. USE LINK BELOW TO READ THE ARTICLE: https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/advocacy/info-2025/older-adults-not-claiming-snap-benefits.html

If you are filing for your Social Security Retirement BEFORE your Full Retirement age, PLEASE keep in mind there is an Earnings Limit on how much you can make and not have some of your benefits clawed-back because you go over this earnings limit. I understand that there is a need for some people to get money due to their finances and the cost of things right now.  But some folks don’t realize there is this earnings limit and then there are a lot of people who end up stopping their benefits because of this. Stopping benefits if YOUNGER THAN FRA brings other problems which they may not be able to overcome.  So just make sure that if your are gonna file for EARLY retirement (before your FRA) and work at the same time that you keep the earnings limits in mind. SSA.gov - 2025 Publication - How Work Affects Your Benefits  SSA.gov- WITHDRAWAL of A Retirement Application IF LESS THAN FULL RETIREMENT AGE SSA.gov - Cancel your benefits application &nb

So I was married for 25 years, 15 of those years I was the care giver and really didn’t work. I am now divorced for 2 years. I’m 1.5 years away from collecting full SS payments, my ex made more than me. And when I questioned SS about my payments at 67 they say that I actually don’t qualify for a percentage of my ex spouse because even though she made more and gets more per month form SS I don’t qualify because I made to much. I thought that regardless of how much you nade tthey would make it equal to what your spouse was getting. so if one person was getting 3000 per month and the other person was getting 2500 per month’ they would give the spouse who was getting 2500 a 500 dollar per month out of the spouse that was making 3000 per month. 

Hi, I apologize if this question has been asked & answered before, yet my search of posts was not successful. I also searched the SSA website yet still could not find a direct answer, e.g., GN 00204.039 Explaining the Month of Election (MOEL) Options OR GN 00204.040 Month of Election (MOEL) and Month of Entitlement (MOET). If I turn 70 in mid-August and want to make sure that I receive my maximum benefits for turning 70 do I choose August as my month of entitlement knowing that my first check would not arrive until September? I have read that "You would want to begin benefits in the month you turn 70. You don't need to be 70 for the entire month in order to get your full age 70 rate."; however, I have not found anything 'legal' on the SSA website to support this statement and trying to find something in the federal register is a nightmare!  Thank you for whatever you may be able to provide me to support a response.

FROM THE ARTICLE: Legislation to Reduce Tax Burden on Older Americans.Bill would boost deductions for those ages 65+, helping offset Social Security income taxes. By Emily Paulin, AARP. Published May 05, 2025. Americans age, they often find themselves living on fixed incomes while facing rising costs for housing, health care, food and utilities. For many, it’s a struggle to make ends meet.That’s why AARP is endorsing new federal legislation that would provide financial relief to older Americans by increasing the additional standard deduction for taxpayers ages 65 and older. The increases would offset some — or even all — of the federal income tax charged on Social Security benefits. USE LINK BELOW TO READ THE ARTICLE: https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/advocacy/info-2025/tax-burden-bill.html