A step-by-step guide to getting Social Security benefits for you and your family. Peterson gives you the practical information you need to make the most of the program, and make smart decisions about retirement.

"The one guide you need to navigate the often-complex world of Social Security benefits. You'll learn when to start claiming, how much you can expect to receive, where to find Social Security calculators, and more."--Amazon.com Despite its importance in our lives, few of us understand how our Social Security actually works and how to manage it. Peterson's easy-to-follow guide helps you navigate the system, and helps you get all the benefits you've...

Each generation of workers since the nineteenth century has had more retirement security than the previous generation. That is, until 1981, when shaky 401(k) plans began replacing traditional pensions. Now, tens of millions of Americans are discovering that they would have been better off under traditional pension plans long since replaced. Russell tells the story of a massive and international retirement robbery-- a substantial transfer of wealth...

It is generally accepted that Social Security must be reformed, but there is little agreement on what should be done to reform the program. US Pension Reform: Lessons from Other Countries looks at the social pension reforms of twelve other countries, assesses the current US Social Security program, and evaluates how these twelve models inform opportunities for adaptation of the current system. The authors consider governments' current fiscal

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"For most Americans, Social Security is their largest financial asset, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and indexed against increases in the cost of living. It is also an incredibly complicated program, consisting of 2,728 core rules and thousands of codicils. As a result, Americans lose billions of dollars in unclaimed benefits every year. The editor of this book has sifted through many thousands of pages of SSA publications to find the answers...

"Too often, writing about social security turns the noteworthy details of the benefits into boring details about regulations or biased political arguments that would put even a diehard bureaucrat to sleep. Social Security 101, 2nd Edition, cuts out the tedious explanations and instead provides a hands-on lesson that keeps you engaged as you learn all you need to know about the federal program that's been around since the Great Depression. From the...

"The issue of the future of Social Security, on which millions of Americans depend, produced great political theater at the State of the Union address. That highlighted a bigger problem of financing retirement as baby boomers seek to retire, often with limited resources. Many argue that the solution to the problem is for people to work longer. Teresa Ghilarducci, a noted expert on retirement, argues that the "working longer" idea is wrong, unnecessary,...

Andrea Louise Campbell is Assistant Professor of Government at Harvard University. She was a Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in Health Policy at Yale University from 2001-2003. Some groups participate in politics more than others. Why? And does it matter for policy outcomes? In this richly detailed and fluidly written book, Andrea Campbell argues that democratic participation and public policy powerfully reinforce each other. Through a case study of...

"A crisis is looming for baby boomers and anyone else who hopes to retire in the coming years. In When I'm Sixty-Four, Teresa Ghilarducci, the nation's leading authority on the economics of retirement, explains how to confront this crisis head-on, revealing the causes behind the increasingly precarious economics of old age in America and proposing a bold plan to guarantee retirement security for every working citizen"--Page 2 of cover.

This book explores the potential benefits of a government-independent, democratized Social Security system to support dependents suffering from the reduction of other government benefits. It provides essential ammunition against the theft of our golden years by pundits, "free" marketeers, and bureaucrats. Social Security, not for nothing do politicians call it the "third rail of American politics, touch it, and you die." Yet a powerful, well-funded...