Dear Liz: My wife of 15 years is now 58 and I am 62. She is a military widow who was married for 17 years before her previous husband’s death. I believe she is ineligible to collect on her deceased spouse’s Social Security record because she married me. Is that right? Instead, can she collect her […]
Recent Blog Posts
Q&A: A greedy friend eyes a suitcase of (suspected) drug money
Dear Liz: A person I know who is in his 80s and very wealthy recently described having a suitcase of old cash. The bills date from the time before the electronic strip was introduced. He said, “I don’t know what to do with this.” Long ago he sold marijuana. I immediately thought that this should pass […]
Q&A: When using payment apps, confirm before hitting send
Dear Liz: You’ve recently written about Zelle and other payment apps. I had a neighbor pay an amount to the wrong phone number. Uh-oh. When I needed to pay someone recently, I asked them to request the amount using my phone number on Zelle. In this way, granting their request would assure that my payment would […]
This week’s money news
This week’s top story: What impacts bank account rates Mid-2024? In other news: 7 tips to prepare your house for hurricane season, weekly mortgage rates trend lower, and PAYE. What Impacts Bank Account Rates Mid-2024? The Fed rate and banks’ competition for consumer deposits play key roles. 7 Tips to Prepare Your House for Hurricane Season […]
Q&A: My kids grew up. Will their credit scores go down?
Dear Liz: Many years ago I took out a credit card to pay for my two children’s college expenses. They were authorized users for miscellaneous expenses. They no longer use or even have access to the cards. Now they are both in stable, well-paying jobs. I would like to keep the card but remove the authorized […]
Q&A: What’s ‘substantial’ in the eyes of Uncle Sam?
Dear Liz: I am retired and subject to both the windfall elimination provision and the government pension offset. In a recent column you indicated someone wouldn’t be subject to the windfall elimination provision if they had 30 years of “substantial earnings” in a job where Social Security tax was withheld. I contributed to Social Security for […]