Retirement Income & Strategies

Social Security timing, dynamic spending, annuities, and portfolio strategies that fund retirement reliably.

Social Security

Claiming age, COLA, survivor and spousal benefits.

5 articles in Retirement Income & Strategies

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Divorce in Retirement: Dividing Retirement Accounts, QDROs, and Social Security Ex-Spouse Benefits
May 20, 2026 · Retirement Income · 16 min read
Gray divorce — divorce after 50 — is the fastest-growing divorce demographic and carries unique financial consequences: retirement assets built over decades must be divided, Social Security strategy shifts entirely, and the household standard of living drops an average 45% for women and 21% for men. This guide covers QDROs and which retirement accounts require them (and which don't), IRA transfer incident to divorce, defined benefit pension division methods, the two QDRO mistakes that destroy alternate payee rights, Social Security divorced spousal benefits (the 10-year rule, 50% of PIA, the 2-year independent filing rule), Social Security survivor benefits for divorced spouses including the over-60 remarriage exception, the after-tax asset comparison trap, the healthcare gap before Medicare, and a complete financial checklist for gray divorce negotiation.
Divorce RetirementQdroGray Divorce
Spousal and Survivor Social Security Benefits: The Complete Claiming Guide for Couples
May 19, 2026 · Retirement Income · 14 min read
How spousal and survivor Social Security benefits work, how they differ from each other and from the worker's own benefit, the widow's limit that caps survivor benefits when the higher earner claimed early, the optimal claiming strategies for four common couple profiles, and the switching strategy available to surviving spouses.
Social SecuritySpousal BenefitSurvivor Benefit
Working Part-Time in Retirement: Social Security Earnings Limits, Tax Implications, and Strategy
May 19, 2026 · Retirement Income · 15 min read
Working part-time after claiming Social Security creates four distinct financial effects that require coordinated planning: the earnings test (which withholds benefits before FRA), automatic SS benefit recalculation upward if new earnings displace a low year in your top-35 record, Social Security income taxation triggered by rising provisional income, and IRMAA Medicare premium surcharges that arrive two years after the high-income year. This guide covers all four with the 2026 limits, worked examples, and the specific strategies that keep part-time income working for you rather than against you.
Social Security Earnings LimitWorking In RetirementPart Time Retirement
Social Security's COLA: Does It Actually Protect Your Purchasing Power?
May 4, 2026 · Retirement Income · 9 min read
The annual cost-of-living adjustment is Social Security's built-in inflation hedge — but it's calculated on a spending basket that doesn't match how retirees actually spend. Here's what the data shows.
Social SecurityColaInflation
Social Security Optimization: How to Maximize a Six-Figure Lifetime Benefit
May 1, 2026 · Retirement Income · 12 min read
The difference between claiming Social Security at 62 versus 70 can be hundreds of thousands of dollars over a lifetime. Here's how to think through the decision — and the strategies that change the math.
Social SecuritySs OptimizationClaiming Strategy