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In 2025, millions of retired Americans will see a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment for benefit payments, according to the Social Security Administration. The Social Security Administration on Oct. 10 unveiled a higher threshold for earnings subject to Social Security payroll taxes, known as the “taxable maximum” or “wage base.”The limit shifts annually based on the national average wage index. How the Social Security tax calculation worksThe Social Security payroll tax rate is 12.4%, with workers paying 6.2% through paycheck deductions. Concerns over Social Security solvencyThe latest Social Security adjustments come amid growing concerns about the program’s solvency. In the meantime, some advocates have pushed to increase the Social Security wage base to provide more funding.

Persons: Sean Lovison, “, Lovison, ’, Alicia Munnell Organizations: Social Security Administration, Social, Social Security, Medicare, Security, Center for Retirement Research, Boston College Locations: Philadelphia

☆ Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for 2025: Here's how benefits may change
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-09 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, could be 2.5% next year, Mary Johnson, an independent Social Security and Medicare analyst, predicted last month. The Social Security Administration is expected to announce the COLA for 2025 on Thursday. Social Security COLAs have averaged about 2.6% over the past 20 years, according to the Senior Citizens League. More from Personal Finance:House may force vote on bill affecting pensioners' Social Security benefitsWhy children miss out on Social Security survivor benefits72% of Americans worry Social Security will run out in their lifetimesCould the Social Security COLA estimate change? The official Social Security cost-of-living adjustment will factor in one more month of government inflation data when it is announced.

Persons: Mary Johnson, Joe Elsasser, Elsasser, Alicia Munnell, Johnson, Hurricane Helene Organizations: Social, Social Security, Social Security Administration, Senior Citizens League, Center for Retirement Research, Boston College, Finance, Urban, Clerical Workers

☆ The Social Security Fix Nobody Wants to Talk About
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Jeff Sommer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Millions of Americans worry about Social Security — whether they will get the full retirement paychecks promised to them in years to come. And many younger people believe — incorrectly, in my view — that by the time they are ready to retire, Social Security will no longer be there for them. The latest annual Social Security Trust Funds report in May said that unless action was taken, benefit cuts of roughly 20 percent would have to start in 2033. Yet when you stop and really look at the problem, it turns out that what’s required for fixing Social Security is no big deal. It’s based on hard numbers calculated by Alicia Munnell, a Boston College economics professor who is among the nation’s premier experts on Social Security.

Persons: paychecks, Alicia Munnell Organizations: Social, Social Security Trust, Boston College, Social Security Locations: Washington

☆ Fixing Social Security Is an Election Issue Nobody Talks About
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Jeff Sommer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Persons: paychecks, Alicia Munnell Organizations: Social, Social Security Trust, Boston College, Social Security Locations: Washington

☆ To shore up Social Security, this controversial proposal calls for limiting retirement plan tax perks
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

But a new research proposal published by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College by experts at the opposite ends of the political spectrum has sparked considerable opposition. Together, they call for limiting current tax preferences for retirement savings plans, and instead redirecting those funds to help shore up Social Security. How retirement plan tax incentives workIn 2024, the limit for total employee and employer contributions to a defined contribution plans such as 401(k)s is $69,000 in 2024. By rolling back the tax incentives provided through defined contribution retirement plans, the money saved could be used to help fix a portion of Social Security's funding gap, the researchers argue. "We now have an industry and a policy based on 401(k)s and defined contribution plans that has been, relatively speaking, successful," Fichtner said.

Persons: Andrew Biggs, Alicia Munnell, Biggs, Munnell, Michael Wicklein, Jason Fichtner, Fichtner Organizations: Istock, Getty, Center for Retirement Research, Boston College, American Enterprise Institute, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Social Security, U.S, Mercatus, George Mason University, Cato Institute, National Association of Plan, Center, Board

☆ NextEra workers roll the dice with big bet on company stock
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Tim Mclaughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

America’s largest renewable power company is among several U.S. energy and utility companies, including Exxon and Southern Company, that continue to promote big, concentrated bets on company stock in worker retirement plans. Nearly 50% of the investments in NextEra’s employee-funded 401(k) retirement plan are in company stock, the highest among all 30 companies in the S&P 500 Utilities Sector (.SPLRCU). NextEra declined to comment on its use of company stock in employee 401(k) plans. "If we saw a concentration of more than 20% in a single company stock, we would definitely tell them it's a big risk." `Keith Rasmussen, a retired geologist, said he still feels the financial repercussions of holding big bets on company stock in his retirement plans.

Persons: Robert Knoche, Yoon, NextEra, ”, Alicia Munnell, Kristin McKenna, McKenna, Ryan Frazier, Keith Rasmussen, jolt, Rasmussen, “, ” Rasmussen, Richard Valdmanis, Anna Driver Organizations: REUTERS, Exxon, Southern Company, Corporate America, Enron, Utilities, Vanguard Group, Center for Retirement Research, Boston College, Employees, Silicon Valley Bank, Darrow Wealth Management, SEC, Corporations, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Southern Co, Dominion Energy Inc, Dominion, Chesapeake Energy Corp, Thomson Locations: Douglas County , Kansas, U.S, Silicon, Boston, Atlanta , Georgia

☆ As Social Security's full retirement age moves to 67, some experts say it should not go higher
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Pekic | E+ | Getty ImagesMore than 1 million people recently took to the streets in France to protest an increase in the country's standard retirement age. The full retirement age for Social Security, when workers are eligible for 100% of the benefits they've earned, is transitioning to age 67. Based on their proposal, people born in 1978 or later would have a full retirement age of 70. watch nowThe Republicans also propose raising Medicare's eligibility age to coincide with the Social Security full retirement age and then indexing that age to life expectancy. "I think that's about as far as you can go," Munnell said of the age 67 full retirement age that is getting phased in now.

☆ What a record 8.7% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment could mean for taxes on benefits
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Halfpoint | Istock | Getty ImagesRetirees who rely on Social Security benefits for income will get some relief from record high inflation when an 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment kicks in next year. How Social Security benefits are taxedSocial Security benefits are taxed based on a formula known as "combined" or "provisional" income. That is calculated by taking your adjusted gross income and adding non-taxable interest and half of your Social Security benefits. Taxes on Social Security benefits apply to single taxpayers starting with $25,000 in combined income, and married taxpayers starting with $32,000 in combined income. watch nowFor individuals with more than $34,000 in combined income and couples with over $44,000, up to 85% of their Social Security benefits may be taxed.

☆ Fed Chair Powell warned of ‘pain’ to come. Seniors on fixed incomes are already feeling it
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Martha C. White | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

“Social Security comes up short by at least $1,000 [a month] in many locations. John Harriger, a resident of Chilhowie, Virginia, suffered a disabling back injury in 1994 and relies solely on Social Security for income. “I get about $1,800 a month [from Social Security] but… when gas and groceries started going up, I couldn’t make it any more. Sites, who relies wholly on Social Security for her income, said she worries what will happen when the mortgage on her home near Asheville, North Carolina, resets. This has a pass-through effect on the financial security of older Americans.

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