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• Financial Planning
• Medicare & Generational Storm
• Q&A (from print)
• Retirement

• Finding hidden positives

  TEMPE, Arizona. Edward C. Prescott stands quickly, walks to his blackboard, and writes an equation for growth. The last item in the equation is "plus residual." He underlines it with his chalk. The word "residual" is to economists as dark matter is to... Posted Feb 26 2006, 04:57 PM by scottb with | with no comments Filed under: Financial Planning, Government, Taxes & Other Disasters, Social Security

• The New Tax Reality

  A tiny flickering light has emerged from the Social Security debate: The payroll tax is a tax, period. If you are at least 50 years old, it may be something better. If you are younger, it is just a tax. If it is "just a tax"--- money taken from paychecks... Posted May 17 2005, 10:47 AM by scottb with | with no comments Filed under: Government, Taxes & Other Disasters, Social Security

• Future Retirees Will Pay More Taxes

  If you want to replace your purchasing power in retirement, you'll have to pay more taxes to Uncle Sam today. You'll have to pay still more tomorrow. This will happen because Uncle Sam has had the power to tax Social Security benefits since 1983. Few... Posted Apr 19 2005, 12:28 PM by scottb with | with no comments Filed under: Government, Taxes & Other Disasters, Retirement, Social Security

• A New Kind of Deficit Is Coming Our Way

  Do debt and deficits matter? Dallas reader D. Smith and his brother-in-law differ. Smith writes, "I am of the opinion that the federal debt is relative in the scheme of our economy…" As long as it remains reasonable relative to GDP, he says, debt doesn... Posted Aug 03 2004, 11:16 AM by scottb with | with no comments Filed under: Government, Taxes & Other Disasters, Social Security

• Follow The Cash

  An old adage of detective work is very direct: "Follow the money!" But when you examine government finances you have to be more specific. You have to follow the cash--- the actual money collected. In her annual letter to workers, for instance, Social... Posted Jul 25 2004, 11:53 AM by scottb with | with no comments Filed under: Government, Taxes & Other Disasters, Social Security

• Understanding Social Security, the Trust Fund, and Future Benefits

  For most people it's TMI--- Too Much Information. In recent weeks, one reader confidently informed me that Social Security has no unfunded liabilities "because it is a pay-as-you-go program." Another reader wrote that future benefits wouldn't be threatened... Posted Jul 20 2004, 12:18 PM by scottb with | with no comments Filed under: Government, Taxes & Other Disasters, Medicare & Generational Storm, Social Security

• Gay Marriage Would Not Endanger Social Security

  Q. Am I right in thinking that under Social Security a surviving spouse can collect benefits based on his or her earnings record or that of the deceased spouse? Much of what homosexuals say they want to accomplish by getting "married" can be accomplished... Posted Apr 29 2004, 11:38 AM by scottb with | with no comments Filed under: Government, Taxes & Other Disasters, Q&A (from print), Social Security

• How The Tax Torpedo Hits

  Portfolio managers call them "torpedo stocks." They are the disastrous stock that can sink the performance of a portfolio. Well, allow me to introduce the Torpedo Tax, the single tax that can reduce your retirement standard of living. It's the tax on... Posted Feb 11 2003, 03:16 PM by scottb with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Government, Taxes & Other Disasters, Social Security

• Truth in Promising

  The only fair tax is one paid by someone else. This is common knowledge. The ink on my recent tax column had barely dried when e-mails from furious readers started piling in. Three readers out of four concluded I was a misguided socialist, possibly even... Posted Feb 04 2003, 09:28 AM by scottb with | with no comments Filed under: Government, Taxes & Other Disasters, Social Security

• The Retiree Tax

  Does $60,000 or $70,000 a year strike you as a Fat Cat income? Probably not. While millions of Americans would dearly love to earn that much, $5,000 or $6,000 a month isn't the sort of income that keeps Town and Country, the Robb Report, and Vogue stuffed... Posted Aug 13 2000, 12:40 PM by scottb with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Government, Taxes & Other Disasters, Social Security

• Starting Now: It's No Longer The Third Rail of Politics

  "We don't own the world… we borrow it from our children." That statement, from an environmentalist at the Texas State Fair, came to mind as I listened to William G. Shipman, talk about reforming Social Security last week. "It was the third rail of politics... Posted Nov 03 1996, 08:30 AM by scottb with | with no comments Filed under: Government, Taxes & Other Disasters, Social Security