Posts filed under: retirement

Wednesday, September 24, 2014 | Joe Alfonso, GoLocalPDX Contributor In a previous article, we looked at the general rules governing Social Security spousal benefits. As with all things related to Social Security, it is important to see how the rules...

Wednesday, August 27, 2014 | Joe Alfonso, Personal Finance Expert, GoLocalPDX If you’re relying on the Social Security system to get you through retirement, you might have been confused by the annual report released recently by the system’s Board of...

In a recent article, The Social Security “Reset”, I talked about how to partially undo the benefit reduction that results from taking early Social Security retirement benefits. I pointed out that the rules allow a recipient to suspend retirement benefits...

(Note: Social Security benefits are gender-neutral, but in this article I will refer to the wife as the recipient since statistically this is typically the case.) Sociologists have a name for folks who divorce after age 50—“gray divorcees”—and their numbers...

March 6, 2014|Cliff Newell, The Lake Oswego Review Baby boomers urged to find best way to receive benefits The boom is on when it comes to people signing up for Social Security. Many baby boomers have already retired and many...

Many current retirees decided to begin taking Social Security retirement benefits well before their full retirement age (FRA). The FRA is the age at which a beneficiary is entitled to receive a full Social Security retirement benefit based on their...

April 24, 2013|Joseph Alfonso, Credit.com All of us hope that at the end of a long working career we will be able to enjoy retirement secure in the knowledge that we can support our desired lifestyle without ever running out...

Putting aside politics and the ongoing debate about its long term viability, Social Security remains a core component of retirement planning. Knowing your estimated benefits at age 62, full retirement age and age 70 is important in developing a retirement...

As you probably already know, the tax law is changing in 2010 to remove the current restriction for making traditional IRA to Roth conversions. Currently, individuals with modified adjusted gross incomes in excess of $100,000 cannot do a conversion without...