SocialSecurity
While the pundits debated the vices and virtues of Mitt Romney's and Newt Gingrich's tax returns, the folks at Kiplinger were scouring them for ideas that could help you. Even if you'll never have a Swiss bank account or own complex foreign assets, these dozen moves could help you lower your IRS bill.
5 Intriguing (and Less Painful) Fixes for Social Security
10:10AM 1/27/2012
When it comes to Social Security's woes, the potential cures discussed the most are unpleasant: Raise the retirement age, reduce payments, or raise the tax rate. Fortunately, those aren't the only options.
Surprise! Your Tax Burden Is Lighter than You Think
6:30AM 1/25/2012
With all the talk about taxes and whether we should lower them, you'd think that the citizens and corporations of the United States face steep tax rates. You'd be wrong, though. When it comes to taxes, things are not as they appear.
What Will You Do When Social Security's Trust Runs Dry?
6:30AM 1/18/2012
In 2036, Social Security's Trust Fund is set to run out of money, after which it's anticipated that the program's benefits will be cut by about a quarter. And if you're likely to be around when that happens, you need a plan to make up the difference.
Lawmakers have gotten in the habit of waiting until the last minute to extend many tax breaks, but last year, they ran out of time. Now, unless Congress acts soon, millions of Americans are face changes that could leave them sending thousands of dollars a year more to the IRS.
There's a persistent assumption going around about what happens after one retires -- your spending shrinks. Sure, your house may be paid off by then, and you may be able to ditch some work-related expenses. But that's not the full picture.
Do you really want to work your whole life? An alarming number of workers think they'll have to -- and that number is rising. More than a quarter of workers age 50 and older expect to retire at 70 or later. Even worse, one in six Americans think they'll never be able to retire.
Social Security spent $49 billion more in 2010 than it took in as tax collections. By the time 2011 ends, it expects to outspend collections by another $46 billion. At this rate, the program's much-touted "Trust Fund" is expected to be depleted by 2036; without that fund, benefits are expected to fall to about three-quarters of current promised levels.
Most people's big worry about Social Security these days is that it won't be there at all when they retire. But what they should be worrying about is how to boost their benefits down the road. Here are four ways to do that:
Taxes. We resent paying them, yet, for the most part, they fund things we'd rather not do without. But exactly how much of our money is going to each service? The White House has made it easy to answer that question. So here's a receipt for where your tax dollars are spent.
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