Retirement
After Her Husband Died, She Feared Debt Collectors Could Take Her Social Security — The Answer Surprised Her
Roughly 4.4 million surviving spouses currently receive Social Security benefits in the United States, according…
Retirement
172 articles
Retirement
She Fought Fires for 20 Years, Got Hurt on the Job, and Watched Her Benefits Claim Get Denied
What would you do if the job that defined your entire adult life suddenly left…
Retirement
She Paid Into Social Security for 38 Years — Her Disability Check Still Leaves Her $1,460 Short Every Month
Most people assume that spending decades paying into Social Security guarantees a functional safety net.…
Retirement
She Had a Retirement Plan Down to the Dollar. Then a Cosigned Loan Default Hit — and Social Security’s Murky Future Collided With Her Timeline
The Social Security Administration’s trustees are expected to release updated projections in the coming months,…
Retirement
She Lost Her Husband, Then Found His Hidden Debt — Now She’s Waiting a Decade for Social Security Survivor Benefits
The call came on a Tuesday morning in October 2024. Darlene Matsuda, a 50-year-old high…
Retirement
I Met a 39-Year-Old Freelancer at a Tax Clinic Who Had Never Checked Her Social Security Record — Here’s What She Found
The folding chairs at the Multnomah County tax clinic were filled by late morning, a…
Retirement
He Earns Good Wages as a Foreman but Has Zero Retirement Savings at 36 — Tommy Kirby’s Disability Gap Is a Story I Couldn’t Stop Thinking About
The call came in about twenty minutes into a local Jacksonville radio segment on Social…
Retirement
A Denver Accountant Thought She Had a Plan — Then Her Husband’s Secret Debt Surfaced and Changed Everything
Have you ever built a financial plan with methodical, almost obsessive care — only to…
Retirement
A 3-Year-Old, $4,800 in Back Property Taxes, and 10 Years Until Retirement — The Math Keeping Franklin Womack Awake
Roughly 40 percent of Americans approaching retirement age say their biggest fear is not death…
Retirement
She Lost $800 a Month in Overtime and Had to Decide Whether to Claim Social Security at 64 — Here’s What Happened
The produce aisle of a Fred Meyer in northeast Portland is not where I expected…