Liz's Blog

Even people decades away from retirement should pay close attention to how Congress just ended two lucrative ways of taking Social Security benefits, known jointly as the “claim now, claim more later” strategy.

One big lesson: Once claiming methods are seen as benefiting the affluent, they are labeled loopholes, and that puts them on the chopping block.

“They can go away, and they can go away fast,” says Michael Kitces, a partner and director of research for Pinnacle Advisor Group in Columbia, Maryland.

In my latest for Reuters, how claiming methods turn into loopholes, leaving them vulnerable to cuts.

In my latest for Money, a look at when it’s better to put away the laptop and purchase something at a brick and mortar store instead.