Dear Liz: I am 68 and still working. I plan to wait until age 70 to maximize my benefit before taking Social Security. My spouse (born in 1956) passed away in 2018 after just beginning to draw her Social Security benefits at age 62. Even though I was the higher earner, I believe that I can […]
Recent Blog Posts
Q&A: Spreadsheets won’t tell you the truth about claiming Social Security
Dear Liz: The standard advice is to delay taking Social Security as long as you can. But if I plug my expected benefits into an Excel spreadsheet, I find that my total benefit if I retire at 67 doesn’t pass my total benefits if I retire at 62 until I turn 77. Retiring at 70 seems […]
Q&A: Can I simplify my finances without hurting my credit score?
Dear Liz: I’m 75 and getting forgetful and disorganized. My prior excellent credit rating has suffered due to late payments because of this. I’d like to simplify my finances by getting rid of extra credit cards, but this will negatively affect my rating even more. Why isn’t there some means for elders to simplify their finances […]
Q&A: Don’t be overly fearful about closing credit cards
Dear Liz: You recently advised a couple who have excellent credit, no outstanding loans and a low credit utilization rate that they could close their credit card with a company that keeps reducing their credit limit when they don’t spend enough on their card. The writer has to contact the credit card company every time to […]
Q&A: RMDs gave me permission to retire
Dear Liz: When Roth conversions came along, they were touted as a way to avoid taxable required minimum distributions in retirement. I had built up a solid “traditional” account, and saw no reason to add to my tax bill by converting. I ignored the noise, although I did open and contribute to a Roth account in […]
Q&A: Are automatic renewals legal?
Dear Liz: I paid for several magazine subscriptions online. At the end of the transaction, I received notice that I had also been signed up for automatic renewal. While I will be notified prior to the end of the current subscription period and given the opportunity to cancel the subscription, this seems like an underhanded way […]