Provisional Income and Calculating Taxable Social Security Benefits

Title: Social Security and Taxes

Article Snip: "...Most retirees do not have to pay federal income taxes on their Social Security benefits, but for those who receive substantial income in addition to Social Security, up to 85 percent of the benefits may be taxable. According to the Social Security Administration, about one third of benefit recipients pay federal taxes on their Social Security benefits. The Social Security benefits may become taxable when retirees’ “provisional income” exceeds certain limits...combined income is greater than $44,000, then up to 85 percent of your benefit may be taxable...U.S. citizens who live in Canada and certain other countries (Egypt, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Romania or the United Kingdom) are exempt from U.S. tax on Social Security benefits regardless of their income. A lump sum death benefit is not subject to tax either..."

Reference: www.aarp.org
Provisional Income,Calculating Taxable Social Security Benefits, tax

Is a retirement pension considered income?

Title: Is a retirement pension considered income?

Article Snip: "...Pension payments, annuities, and the interest or dividends from your savings and investments are not earnings for Social Security purposes. You may need to pay income tax, but you do not pay Social Security taxes..."

Reference:
Pension Payments,social security,earned income,Taxes in Retirement,

What Is the Savers Credit?

Title: What Is the Savers Credit?

Article Snip: "...Depending on your adjusted gross income and tax filing status, you can claim the credit for 50%, 20% or 10% of the first $2,000 you contribute during the year to a retirement account. Therefore, the maximum credit amounts that can be claimed are $1,000, $400 or $200..."

Reference: intuit.com
Savers Credit

Retirement claims backlog continues to rise, exceeding January’s 8-year record

Title: Retirement claims backlog continues to rise, exceeding January’s 8-year record

Article Snip: "...Lackluster processing numbers and longer average processing times in the second half of 2020 helped set the stage for this loss of ground in early 2021. OPM said its “steady state” inventory of retirement claims is 13,000. Processing times rose significantly during the early months of COVID-19, and still haven’t returned to their pre-pandemic lows..."

Reference: federalnewsnetwork.com
OPM Retirement Processing,

How Unpaid Leave Impacts Your Benefits

Title: How Unpaid Leave Impacts Your Benefits

Article Snip: "...You won’t earn any annual or sick leave for a pay period in which you reach a total of 80 hours of LWOP. However, you will earn annual and sick leave during the following pay periods until you once more accumulate 80 hours of LWOP. Then your ability to earn sick or annual leave will end. If you are a part-time employee, the amount of leave you earn will be proportionately less..."

Reference: www.fedweek.com
How Unpaid Leave Impacts Your Benefits,Retirement benefits and LWOP, Retirement,

How to Navigate Taxation When Retiring From Your Government Job

Title: How to Navigate Taxation When Retiring From Your Government Job

Article Snip: "...High-three average salaries are used for the first basic annuity when considering retirement. If you are under the age of 62 at the time of retirement, you will get 1% of your high-3 average salary. If you’re older than 62 or have more than 20 years of service, you will get 1.1% of your high-3 average salary. There are exceptions to these general guidelines. For example..."

Reference: www.kake.com

Nalcrest Florida and The Former Fedhaven Florida (Retirment Communities for Feds and Postals)

Title: Nalcrest Florida and The Former Fedhaven Florida

Article Snip: "...All residents of this community have to be retired members of the National Association of Letter Carriers. A funny thing about NALCREST is that mail is not delivered to individual apartments; residents have to walk to the local post office to get their mail. Nearby Lakeshore was called FEDHAVEN for most of the years since it was built. It is about one mile east of NALCREST and was developed as a retirement community for retired federal employees..."

Reference: www.florida-backroads-travel.com
Nalcrest Florida, Fedhaven Florida, Postal Retirement Community, Federal Employee Retirement Community,

Lessons Learned Growing a TSP Balance Beyond $1M

Title: Lessons Learned Growing a TSP Balance Beyond $1M

Article Snip: "...FERS retiree and one of those TSP investors who have accumulated at least $1,000,000 in their TSP account while working as a federal civilian employee. In his article published February 28, 2020 in FEDweek (Becoming a TSP Millionaire: Don’t Try to Time the Market) Dallen Haws noted that “becoming a TSP millionaire is simple” and that at the end of 2019 there were nearly 50,000 federal employees with at least $1,000,000 in their TSP. I’d like to share with you..."

Reference: www.fedweek.com
TSP Millionaire Tips

5 Benefits of Serving in the Civil Service After Your Military Career

Title: 5 Benefits of Serving in the Civil Service After Your Military Career

Article Snip: "...Joining the federal civil service is a great way to continue serving your country while earning a respectable living and valuable retirement benefits. And if you formerly served on active duty, your military service can provide you with additional benefits..."

Reference: www.military.com

Pandemic prompts some feds to delay or reconsider retirement plans

Title: Pandemic prompts some feds to delay or reconsider retirement plans

Article Snip: "...A total of 92,008 federal employees retired in 2020, the fewest in nearly 10 years, according to a Federal News Network analysis of monthly data from the Office of Personnel Management. By contrast, OPM processed 101,580 retirements in 2019 and 107,612 in 2018..."

Reference:

Cash flexibility in retirement: Pros and cons of the TSP

Title: Cash flexibility in retirement: Pros and cons of the TSP

Article Snip: "...many federal and postal workers pull their retirement nest egg money out of the Thrift Savings Plan. So is that wise? Short answer..."

Reference: federalnewsnetwork.com

Special Military Social Security Rate: Here's How It Works...

Title: Special Military Social Security Rate

Article Snip: "...Under certain circumstances, veterans who served between 1940 and 2001 can be credited for special extra earnings for Social Security purposes. These extra earnings may help you qualify for Social Security or increase...Social Security doesn't add these extra earnings to your record until you file for benefits..."

Reference: www.military.com
special extra earnings for Social Security

Didn't Retire from Active Duty? You Can Still Use Your Service Toward a Pension

Title: Didn't Retire from Active Duty? You Can Still Use Your Service Toward a Pension

Article Snip: "...your active duty military service puts you in a better position to earn a pension, even if you count yourself among the 83% (roughly five out of six) of active duty veterans who didn't remain on active duty long enough to retire from the military to earn military retirement pay..."

Reference: www.military.com
Buy Military Service Credits with the Federal Civil Service

What is Social Security’s 'special earnings limit rule'?

Title: What is Social Security’s 'special earnings limit rule'?

Article Snip: "...The special earnings limit rule is an exception to Social Security’s earnings limit...The reason for the rule is that Social Security bases the earnings limit on a full year’s income, but it recognizes that most people retire at some point mid-year and by then may have already earned more than the limit. Rather than count that income and reduce your benefits accordingly, Social Security applies a “monthly earnings test”: Once you claim your benefits, you’ll get your full payment for any month that Social Security considers you to be “retired” (doing limited or no paid work), regardless of your total earnings for the year. Here’s how it works..."

Reference: www.aarp.org
special earnings limit rule (Social Security),

CSRS vs FERS: Bill Would Remove Discriminatory Federal Retiree Annual Increases: Equal COLA Act (H.R. 304)

Title: Bill Would Standardize Federal Retiree Annual Increases, and More

Article Snip: "...The Equal COLA Act (H.R. 304), introduced by Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., would ensure that federal retirees in the Federal Employee Retirement System and the Civil Service Retirement System both receive the same annual percentage cost of living increase each year..."

Reference:
Equal COLA Act (H.R. 304)

4 Critical Federal Retirement Decisions

Title: 4 Critical Federal Retirement Decisions

Article Snip: "...Retirement planning is a series of decisions. Some have minor consequences and some can have a lifelong impact on your financial security. Here are a few examples of critical retirement decisions that can lead to very different outcomes..."

Reference: www.govexec.com

Retirement Planning: How To Get Out Of Debt Before Retirement

Title: Retirement Planning: How To Get Out Of Debt Before Retirement

Article Snip: "...Retiring with debt is often considered a cardinal financial sin: Every dollar you owe reduces your income in retirement, after all. But on the other hand, blindly prioritizing debt reduction before retirement savings, particularly for low-interest debt, could shortchange your nest egg. That’s why people nearing retirement need to weigh the costs and benefits of paying off debt vs. saving for retirement..."

Reference: www.forbes.com
Baby Boomer retirement planning,Retirement Planning Tips,pre-retirement planning,Mortgage Debt,

Social Security and You

Title: Social Security and You

"Some 'real world' questions and answers relating to Social Security"

Reference: www.poncacitynews.com

Is Social Security Income Taxable?

Title: Is Social Security Income Taxable?

Article Snip: "...About 35 percent of Social Security recipients have total incomes high enough to trigger federal income tax on their benefits. To figure out if your benefits will be taxable, you’ll need to add up all of your “provisional income,” which includes..."

Reference: www.theintelligencer.net
Is Social Security Income Taxable?

Social Security, Medicare and Retirement Plan Changes for 2021

Title: Social Security, Medicare and Retirement Plan Changes for 2021

Article Snip: "...From the pandemic to politics and the economy, it’s been a wild year, especially for those near or in retirement. While some uncertainty remains in the outlook for 2021, here’s what you need to know about Social Security, Medicare premiums and retirement plan contributions..."

Reference: www.thestreet.com
social security,Medicare, Retirement, 2021,

7 Things to Know About the Military's New Retirement Plan

Title: 7 Things to Know About the Military's New Retirement Plan

Article Snip: "...Generally, you need to serve for 20 years to retire, and when you retire with 20 years of service you’ll receive 50% of your base pay. If you choose the new plan, that multiplier of 2.5 reduces to 2.0, so you’ll only receive 40% of your base pay at 20 years..."

Reference: www.doughroller.net
Military Retirement,

How Much Debt do Baby Boomers Have?

Title: How Much Debt do Baby Boomers Have?

Article Snip: "...Baby boomers have an average of $25,812 of debt, not including mortgages—here’s how they compare to other generations.New Experian data finds that ..."

Reference: www.cnbc.com
Baby Boomers,Retirement Debt,Experian data,

Average Retirement Income 2020: How Do You Compare?

Title: Average Retirement Income 2020: How Do You Compare?

Article Snip: "...Average Retirement Income from Pensions: A mere 31 percent of today’s retirees have retirement income from a pension, a 6% drop over recent years. This number is trending further downward. Consider yourself extremely lucky if you have this income..."

Reference: www.newretirement.com
Average Retirement Income, Retirement, Median vs Mean, Average Retirement Income from Pensions,

For Feds, Net Worth Is More Important Than Income

Title: For Feds, Net Worth Is More Important Than Income

Article Snip: "...Here are three big reasons why you should focus on your net worth more than your income..."

Reference: www.govexec.com
Net Worth vs Income, TSP, Mortgage Debt,Retirement Debt,