In Retirement

I am incensed when I read nonsense posted on social media about social security – “Congress stole the SS funds and never paid it back,” “there would be plenty of money if we didn’t give it to people not eligible” and worse. All nonsense.
Is it worth me getting upset over? It is, because uninformed people believe it and now it appears people are acting on the lies and misinformation they read and hear. They don’t understand that SS can’t go bankrupt or run out of money and that there is a different between SS’s ongoing revenue and the reserve trust.

Geoffrey Schmidt is a CPA and retirement planning expert with a YouTube channel called HolySchmidt. 
In a recent video “The Map is Wrong” he analyzed the five best and worst states to retire and challenged the idea that the best choice was states with no income tax. He based his analysis on median home values and retiree incomes. 
He used the estimated combined spending on property taxes, sales taxes, income taxes and property insurance.  When added together the results showed no income tax is sometimes a misleading criteria,

We all get notified on near regular basis on the compromised data but these numbers are staggering. Clark has some common sense advice on how best to play defense.
https://clark.com/credit/data-breach-credit-freeze/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=ClarkDailyNewsletter&_bhlid=909bb4deb2191a6a5b918be72d6953a9308bf113
I would add freezing your SSN via the e-verify site (so your SSN can’t be misused), and I think this is especially true for those of us who are retired.

In 2002 the Social Security Trustees explicitly called on Congress in their report summary to act sooner rather than later fixing SS funding
They emphasized that taking early legislative action would allow changes to be phased in gradually and give workers time to adjust. They issued the same warning in every report since.
For twenty four years Congress and each administration has ignored those warnings.
Those trustees reports were signed by the Secretary of the Treasury,

With all that’s going on with SS (COLA, taxation, potential cuts) and some changes certain in the next six years, is it time to rethink the income replacement percentage you shoot for in retirement?
I won’t give my theory again, one or more of the Clements family will be upset with me😅
However, self preservation, a hedge against longevity, hence inflation and peace of mind still tells me that a goal of replacing 60, 70 or 80% of pre retirement income is not sufficient.

I noticed a book excerpt in the Harvard Gazette yesterday (5 Aug 2026) that goes into some depth on a topic that is raised here on HD with some frequency, notably by R. D. Quinn, most recently with regard to the Social Security issue. The book in question is:
“Gerontocracy in America: How the Old Are Hoarding Power and Wealth ― and What to Do About It” by Samuel Moyn, J.D. ’01, and published by Farrar,

A recent Barron’s article notes, “for most retirees, the greatest fear is not death—it is running out of money before they die.” As one survey they cite put it, “The prospect of running out of money in retirement is scarier to more people than death.” The same article described a new tool that promises to estimate more accurately how long we are likely to live. Life expectancy is one of the most important assumptions in any retirement plan because it answers a fundamental question: How long will my savings need to last?

A retired actuary name Ken Steiner has a article today, 8/4/2026, titled Social Security’s Short-Term Crisis,  published on Advisor Perspectives.
I like Mr. Steiner’s thinking on breaking the funding or reduction of the future social security shortfall problem into short and long components.  His discussion of one alternative is a three-year COLA freeze starting around 2033. If you are part of the grandfathered group who is receiving a current social security benefit you may want to consider this possibility  in your planning.

Long-time Lurker who read Johnathan’s WSJ columns for decades and had several delightful conversation with him.
 
I thought I would share “Yet-Another Social Security Spreadsheet Analysis on what Age to Start taking Benefits” as I would appreciate (candid) commentary on how I can improve this from the financial wizards at Humble Dollar.
 
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Adam Grossman wrote this in an e-mail today. I didn’t know this did you?
“The spousal benefit is terrific, but a commonly misunderstood limitation is that—unlike a worker’s own benefit—it doesn’t continue to increase each year until age 70. It hits a maximum at the spouse’s FRA. For that reason, it’s important for a spouse to not delay beyond that point.”
On the other hand if the worker delayed beyond FRA those extra benefits pass on to survivors benefits.

Social media is full of seniors complaining about inflation, the inadequacy of Social Security and its COLAs to keep up.
I was curious. Is that true and what has happened to my purchasing power since retiring in January 2010?
To match the purchasing power of $100 in 2010, you would need approximately $153.15 in 2026.
Meanwhile, $100 in Social Security benefits in 2010 has grown through compounded Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) to $147.36 in 2026. Not equal,

I used AI as an editorial assistant to help organize and refine my thoughts; the underlying ideas and personal experiences remain my own.
For years, I maintained what I thought was a pretty good retirement spreadsheet. Like many retirees, it tracked my investments, estimated Social Security, projected taxes and summarized spending. Every year I’d update the numbers, glance through a handful of reports and file it away until the next review.
The spreadsheet faithfully answered every question I asked.

No doubt you have heard or read the posts and comments, perhaps by friends about the Social Security COLA.
It’s not accurate, not fair, not enough, doesn’t keep up with our actual spending, use the CPI-E and all the rest.
One thing it does for sure is add to the Trusts growing shortfall.
Some people really need that annual boost, if for nothing else to help offset growing Medicare premiums. But others, including many in the HD community,

There is a slowing growing movement to offer annuities within 401k plans, mostly through target date funds. They purchase the annuity gradual starting around age 50 or so or in a lump sum.  401k Plan provisions determine other options. I think it’s a good and much needed option for the great majority of workers.
But my question is, how important to you is a regular income stream, at least to cover all basic living expenses. I know many HD folks like the flexibility of DIY withdrawals,

Possibly a misuse of the term, in its strict financial sense. Anyhow…
For decades I’ve heard about the value or use of leverage. It’s most easily recognized in our homes, often bought with a small down payment and a big loan, so that even minor increases in home value in early years create impression of a big return on our actual expenditure.
Yet last year, when I took on several major home “repairs” (a loose term for work that included demolishing and rebuilding a decrepit garage),