Home > Social Security

How to Get Your Social Security Statement Online

By Jon on June 14, 2012 Leave a Comment

Social Security Statement OnlineThe days of getting a Social Security statement in the mail have come to an end.  At least for everyone under 60 years old.  About a year ago the Social Security Administration stopped sending annual statements to save money on budget cuts.  It worked.  But it left several million people without easy access to their statements.

This all changed when the Social Security Administration updated its website to provide online statements.  While your Social Security statement is finally available online, you do have to sign up for a My Social Security account at the SSA site, first.

The process isn’t as easy as the website claims.  We hit a few stumbling blocks along the way.  And in the process, thought it was a good idea to put together a step by step guide on how to create a My Social Security account and access your Social Security statement online. Continue Reading…

The Payroll Tax Cut: What Are You Doing With Your 2%?

By Jon on February 21, 2012 3 Comments

Payroll Tax CutLast week both the House and Senate approved the payroll tax extension, sending it on to the president to sign into law.  Which will happen amid a bunch of hoopla and congratulations about how your elected leaders saved your wallets from the plight of emptiness.

The law, as it did last year, will extend the 2% reduction in the payroll tax that funds Social Security through the end of the year.  Which sounds great.  Who doesn’t want more money from their paycheck.

So what’s the point of the tax cut?  The government lets you keep 2% of your income in exchange for you to spend it.  The theory is that spending your 2% will help the economy grow more quickly. Sounds fair enough, except that money is supposed to be put towards retirement.  At least someone’s retirement with the inefficiency of the Social Security System.

The payroll tax cut is a terrible short-term fix that will only cause more problems down the road when the difference has to made up.  Which is the inherent flaw.  I don’t see any logic in spending retirement money before we retire.  But that’s the government in a nutshell. Continue Reading…