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Spouses SS benefits don’t always equal half workers benefit.

R Quinn | Jul 31, 2026

"Https://humbledollar.com/forum/social-security-spousal-benefits/ I wrote this in March on HD."

- James Mcglynn

Subconscious Frugality

Mark Crothers | Jul 31, 2026

"Don’t you know seniors dine at 4:30 to avoid that … or have a bottle of Tums on the nightstand😀"

- R Quinn

How Did You Find Paid Work After Retiring from Your Primary Career?

Jeffrey Chan | Jul 31, 2026

Be the first to comment.

"W were in Chicago for four days last week, too. My husband had a conference, and I tagged along and then we stayed two extra days to have some fun. Weather was fantastic. We ate a couple of excellent meals and went to exhibits at the science and industry museum. We also love the Art Institue and went on the architectural river boat tour a couple of years ago."

- DrLefty

2025 and Medicare Rx

R Quinn | Jan 1, 2025

"The $2,000 out of pocket max is $2,100 this year, so I guess it will continue to be indexed. I am not complaining as the Zanubrutinib I take costs $14,750 monthly which is up $1,000 monthly over last year."

- Howard Schwartz

Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) are a Generational Bargain Right Now

Howard Schwartz | Jul 27, 2026

"Thank you! Yes, the TIPS would be held in my IRA, and the plan would be to hold them until maturity. I haven't found any inflation-adjusted annuities, but it looks like I could buy an SPIA with a 2 or 3 percent annual increase. Helpful but not an impregnable defense against 3.5 percent inflation."

- Emily Croy Barker

Taking a Loss?

Mark Crothers | Jul 28, 2026

"Randy, I agree you don't buy bonds for price appreciation, though I don't hold them for the dividends either. For me, they’re more of a portfolio ballast to smooth out the ride. Nice lock-in on the 10-year TIPS, by the way."

- Mark Crothers

What I Retired To

Andrew Clements | Jul 29, 2026

"I am the same way, I too have this thing about seeing net worth decline no matter how illogical it is. These past few weeks have not helped has investments have tumbled and taken me from my happy place. My son in law is a managing direct at a Wall Street firm and warned me about this summer, but it doesn’t make me feel any better."

- R Quinn

Today in Financial History

Harold Tynes | Jul 28, 2026

"Notice that I said I may hire an advisor someday if or when needed? This assumes that I will recognize that time is approaching and have time to interview and hire someone. Life often does not work that way. And you answered my unasked question, that is "why pay someone now to do what I may need someday, but just not yet?" By working with your advisor now, you can reasonably expect that your advisor will continue to follow your preferred strategy in the future, with or without your oversight. Smart move."

- Jack Hannam

Widow Tax

ArticleJohn Urban | Jul 25, 2026

THE WIDOW TAX is sold to the wrong households. It gets pitched to affluent couples as the reason to convert to a Roth or buy life insurance. The pitch says that when one spouse dies, the survivor files single, lands in a higher bracket, and gets clobbered. I ran the numbers for three couples at three incomes, and at the comfortable end the widow tax often costs nothing, or even less than nothing. The real cost lands lower down, on households nobody is selling anything to. What follows uses 2026 federal figures to show what the widow tax actually does in dollars, not in scary percentage points. The pattern runs opposite to the marketing. The higher your income, the smaller the hit, and the lower you go, the more it bites. Three Things Move When the first spouse dies, three things change, and they get bundled under one frightening label. One Social Security check stops, and a pension may shrink or end. That is lost income, and it is usually the largest of the three. It is not a tax. Spending shifts as well. The survivor pays one Medicare premium instead of two, but the mortgage still comes out of the same account. The third change is the only one the tax code causes: narrower single brackets, a smaller standard deduction and lower thresholds for the Medicare surcharge. The widow tax is that third piece alone, and the three households below measure how big it really is. The Affluent Couple Both spouses are over 65. Their income is about $360,000: $80,000 from Social Security, $210,000 from a pension and required minimum distributions, plus $30,000 in qualified dividends and $40,000 in long-term gains. They sit in the 24% bracket, and both already pay the Medicare surcharge. One spouse dies. The survivor keeps the larger Social Security check and most of the other income, landing at roughly $308,000. As a couple, they paid about $53,900 in federal income tax and a Medicare surcharge of about $9,240. As a single filer, the survivor pays about $55,000 in federal tax and a surcharge of about $6,355. The effective rate rises from 15.7% to 18.7%, which is the headline people remember. But the federal tax barely moves, up only about $1,100, because the survivor has less income to tax. The Medicare surcharge actually falls about $2,900, because two enrollees in the couple's joint tier cost more than one survivor a tier above. Net it all out, and the survivor pays about $1,800 a year less than the couple did. The rate went up, and the dollars went down. At the high end, the widow tax measured in money hands back a small refund. This is why the Roth conversion pitch aimed at comfortable couples misfires. If converting to Roth would cut the survivor's future taxable income without cutting the couple's lifestyle, the converted money was surplus. Surplus is money the survivor never needed to replace. Edward McQuarrie, a finance professor emeritus at Santa Clara University, made a version of this argument in a 2023 paper. He found the dollar hit inconsequential for affluent couples, and located any real cost lower down, where the Social Security torpedo bites. Where It Actually Bites Drop down to a couple with $180,000 of income: $60,000 from Social Security and $120,000 from a pension and required minimum distributions, all ordinary income. Both are over 65. The couple files jointly at $180,000; the survivor files single at about $150,000. As a couple, they paid about $17,148 in federal tax and no Medicare surcharge. The survivor pays about $22,737 in federal tax and a new surcharge of about $2,885. The federal tax rises about $5,600, and a surprising chunk of that comes from the collapse of the new $6,000 senior deduction, which phases out against a lower income threshold for singles. Then the survivor crosses into a Medicare surcharge tier the couple never paid. The total cost of widowhood here is roughly $8,500 a year, set against a $30,000 income loss. This is the one band where both the dollars and the rate move the wrong way. Now take a couple with $90,000 of income: $38,500 from Social Security, about the national average for two retired spouses, plus $51,500 from a pension and distributions. The survivor keeps the larger Social Security check and the full pension, landing at $73,500. As a couple, they paid about $3,433 in federal tax, at an effective rate of 3.8%. The survivor pays about $5,278, at an effective rate of 7.2%. There's no Medicare surcharge at this income, and there never will be. But the survivor's effective rate nearly doubles, because more of the Social Security benefit becomes taxable, up to the 85% ceiling, when the single thresholds replace the joint ones. The added tax is about $1,845, and the lost income is $16,500. Real money for a household least able to absorb it. It doubles the effective rate, and it hurts. Read the three together and the widow tax points the wrong way from the marketing. At $360,000 it costs less than nothing, roughly a $1,800 annual saving. At $180,000 it costs about $8,500. At $90,000 it costs about $1,850, but the effective rate doubles. The affluent couples being sold protection don't need it. The middle couples who feel the sting are not being sold anything, and they're the ones for whom a few thousand dollars a year actually constrains a life. The tax code has three different mechanisms, and which one finds you depends almost entirely on your income. At the top, the Medicare surcharge does the work, and it falls. In the middle, the surcharge appears from zero. At the bottom, the Social Security torpedo raises the taxability of the benefit from 75% to 85%. The mechanism changes with the income, and so does the household's ability to absorb the hit. Plan Ahead This is where the widow tax conversation usually stops, and where I think it should start. The moves most likely to leave a survivor better off are the ones you make years before, and they help whether or not the widow tax ever bites. Converting traditional IRA money to Roth over several years before retirement smooths your taxable income. It lowers the required minimum distributions that will later push a single filer into higher brackets. It can also keep a survivor under a Medicare surcharge tier the couple never worried about. Drawing accounts in a sensible order, spending down the right buckets first, reduces the future tax base that a single bracket structure will tax more steeply. Managing required distributions as they grow, rather than letting them balloon off a rising balance, limits the single bracket exposure that builds across a long widowhood. A more tax-efficient bequest helps the people who inherit what is left. None of that is widow rescue. It is good multi-year planning that happens to compound in the survivor's favor. The widow tax is one input to that planning, not the reason for it. The reason is that the year your spouse dies is the worst possible year to be making financial decisions, and the more of those decisions you have already made, the fewer you hand to someone who is grieving. You can do a rough version of this at your own kitchen table, and you should, ideally long before you need to. Estimate the survivor's income after the smaller Social Security check and any pension change, then estimate the survivor's spending from your actual budget, not a generic rule of thumb. Subtract. If reliable after-tax income still supports the life the survivor wants, with margin, the tax rate was never the thing to worry about. Then project the survivor's federal tax, the net investment income tax where it applies and the Medicare surcharge as a single filer, and compare it to the couple. Keep the tax separate from the lost income, so you can see what the tax code actually did. Sometimes, as the affluent couple shows, it does you a small favor. Only then does a planning move earn a look, and only if you can answer what it costs today, what it might save later, who benefits and what has to come true for it to work. The widow tax is real, but it isn't the catastrophe it's sold as. At higher incomes it's not a cost at all. Lower down it is a real cost, and the lower you go, the more it's worth measuring, because the households it constrains have the least margin to spare. The planning that matters most is the kind you do years ahead, smoothing income, holding down future distributions, managing the surcharge tiers and putting the estate in order. Do that, and you've done right by your survivor, for reasons that have little to do with fear and a great deal to do with care. You'll have done it in the years when you still had the time, and the clarity, to do it well. ________________________________________________________________________________ John Urban is the founder of RetireSmartIRA, a retirement tax-planning app. Earlier, he founded GT Nexus, a supply-chain software company acquired by Infor in 2015. He lives in Northern California with his wife, Kathy, and enjoys time with family, travel, reading, Bay Area sports, and the occasional deep dive into the fine print of the tax code.

Credit Card Debt.

Michael l Berard | Nov 23, 2024

"I pay off credit debt monthly, but I don’t limit myself to one card because part of your credit score is based on the percentage of credit utilization. Your utilization rate will be lower (and credit score higher) if you have multiple credit card accounts."

- corrupt

Can we be completely safe?

Ben Rodriguez | Dec 17, 2025

"My BIL was a victim of ID theft… They took control of his phone, and resetting all his password's was impossible since he no longer had a phone to use as the second factor. It took months to straighten out."

- corrupt

Spouses SS benefits don’t always equal half workers benefit.

R Quinn | Jul 31, 2026

"Https://humbledollar.com/forum/social-security-spousal-benefits/ I wrote this in March on HD."

- James Mcglynn

Subconscious Frugality

Mark Crothers | Jul 31, 2026

"Don’t you know seniors dine at 4:30 to avoid that … or have a bottle of Tums on the nightstand😀"

- R Quinn

How Did You Find Paid Work After Retiring from Your Primary Career?

Jeffrey Chan | Jul 31, 2026

Be the first to comment.

Go While You Still Can

DavidHLancaster | Jul 22, 2026

- DrLefty

2025 and Medicare Rx

R Quinn | Jan 1, 2025

- Howard Schwartz

Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) are a Generational Bargain Right Now

Howard Schwartz | Jul 27, 2026

- Emily Croy Barker

Taking a Loss?

Mark Crothers | Jul 28, 2026

- Mark Crothers

What I Retired To

Andrew Clements | Jul 29, 2026

- R Quinn

Today in Financial History

Harold Tynes | Jul 28, 2026

- Jack Hannam

Manifesto

Jul 31, 2026

NO. 28: WE SHOULD nurture investment compounding—by buying stocks for the long run, minimizing costs and taxes, and avoiding risky investments where we could lose big.

Truths

Jul 31, 2026

NO. 105: IN INEFFICIENT markets—such as those for microcap stocks and emerging market companies—skilled investors have a better shot at earning market-beating returns. But after investment costs, most investors will still lag behind the market averages and the shortfall will often be large, because the cost of active management is so high.

think

Jul 30, 2026

ASSET ALLOCATION. This is a portfolio’s split among the four asset classes: stocks, bonds, cash like savings accounts and money market funds, and alternatives such as gold and real estate. It’s arguably the most important decision an investor makes. The more a portfolio has in stocks, the higher its expected return, but the greater the volatility.

act

Jul 29, 2026

CALCULATE YOUR monthly nonmortgage debt payments as a percentage of your pretax monthly income. We’re talking here about car payments, student loans and minimum credit card payments. Aim to keep these payments to less than 10% of monthly income, though that can be a tough target to hit if you’re a new college graduate with student loans.

Money Guide

Manifesto

Jul 31, 2026

NO. 28: WE SHOULD nurture investment compounding—by buying stocks for the long run, minimizing costs and taxes, and avoiding risky investments where we could lose big.

Spotlight: Borrowing

So Rewarding

Kristine Hayes | Oct 26, 2017

A FRIEND RECENTLY asked me the interest rate on my credit card. I admitted I had no idea. I pay off the balance in full every month and therefore don’t know, or care about, the interest rate.
I’m a minority in this regard. Only 35% of us pay off our credit card balance each month. We’re dismissed as “deadbeats” by profit-hungry credit card companies, perhaps with some justification: We reap the benefits of credit card rewards programs designed to lure the other 65% of the population into using their cards on a regular basis—and then foolishly carrying a balance.

When is it okay to go into debt?

Jonathan Clements | Apr 4, 2021

Home Rich Cash Poor

Mike Drak | Jul 1, 2022

ACCORDING TO MY local newspaper, the average home price in my town rose 450% over the past 25 years. That made me ponder how I could use my home equity to fund my desired retirement lifestyle. I’m certainly not alone in thinking this way.
There are three ways you can access home equity. You can sell your home and downsize, you can take out a home equity line of credit or you can take out a reverse mortgage.

A Perfect Score

Donnie Mattox | Jun 8, 2022

THE HIGHEST CREDIT score possible is 850, and I’ve hit that mark in eight of the past 12 months. In the other four months, I had a score of either 844 or 846 under the credit rating formula created by FICO, formerly called Fair Isaac Corp.
A FICO score between 800 and 850 is considered exceptional and gets you the best rates on loans. A score of 670 or more is considered “good,” but more doors and opportunities are available when your score hits 740,

Never a Debtor

Tom Scott | May 6, 2024

I HATE BEING IN DEBT. It makes me feel anxious and uncertain, as though my finances are out of my control. If I don’t pay all my bills in full every month, I feel trapped, and I’m endlessly restless until I get free.
I understand that other people manage their finances quite differently, and are happy to pay their bills in installments. Not me.
Years ago, I made a small bet on a minor thing.

Credit Card Debt.

Michael l Berard | Nov 23, 2024

American credit card debt just broke the trillion dollar level. Taking on debt, “ bad” debt, credit cards , auto loans and similar, is a like attending a raucous party , taking in too much alcohol , etc.
The aftermath , paying off high interest loans, is like the worst hangover, ever. It can take decades to recover from it.
Often, too much alcohol can kill you, quickly or long term, * alas , debt can kill you,

Social Security Solutions

Dan Smith | Oct 4, 2024

Here are some proposals I’ve seen for fixing Social Security. Remove the income cap on the payroll tax. Currently at $168.600, this would have people and their employer, as well as self-employed folks pay the tax on all of their income. It would not include any commensurate increase in their benefits. While I’ve never had the problem of earning over the income cap, it doesn’t seem entirely fare to me to put all of the load these people. Work longer. Life expectancy when SS was signed into law was between 51 and 65years old depending on race and gender. So it might make sense that the normal retirement age (NRA) be increased. This proposal would have been okay for Dan the tax preparer, which was my occupation for the final 16 years of my career, because preparing taxes isn’t a very demanding job, at least physically. But it doesn’t seem reasonable to expect an iron or steelworker to last until age 70. I have never heard anyone propose a multi-tiered system that would require a higher tax rate for the brutal occupations, in return for keeping an earlier NRA for such jobs. I wonder if that would work. Automatically adjusting payroll taxes every year based on actuarial calculations, thus removing politicians from the equation. This one makes a lot of sense to me, but I’m no longer working and paying taxes. Not sure how the worker bees would feel about this. Investing some of the trust fund in equities. If it makes sense for me to have my own money in stocks, why wouldn’t it make sense to have some of the trust fund invested? Might help with the budget deficit as well. How about individual accounts? This idea never appealed to me, as it seems like a chicken in…

Analog versus Digital

Dan Smith | Sep 24, 2024

Bob’s a little out of place in the 21st century. He does not own a computer. He does possess a recent iPhone, but not the depth of understanding to take full advantage of its capabilities. I have to admit that my iPhone skills aren’t all that deep either. Bob just found out that his SS number is on the dark web. The notices suggested freezing his credit along with some other ideas to protect himself. He tried doing the work on his smart phone, he got frustrated, nearly threw it across the room. Somewhat embarrassed, he called me for help. I paid Bob a visit today, reassuring him that he wasn’t the lone ranger regarding both stolen information and not knowing his way around technology. I also had issues navigating the three credit agency websites with his phone, so decided to try it the old fashioned way. Guess what, sometimes analog beats digital. We made phone calls, and it was surprisingly simple and quick. I also got him an IRS security pin, which will prevent someone from using his social security number to file a fake tax return. It was fairly simple using my computer to communicate with the IRS, and his phone to upload an image of his drivers-license. Most everyone has personal information floating around the dark web. Don’t let fear of technology keep you from taking steps to protect yourself. Remember, just because you're paranoid it doesn’t mean people aren’t out to get you.

Adult Autism

Dan Smith | Oct 30, 2024

The other day I listened to a discussion about undiagnosed adult autism on National Public Radio (NPR). Autism often went undiscovered in older generations, making life challenging for afflicted adults who knew there was something wrong, but no idea what it was or how to deal with it. There are millions living with this condition and likely someone in your life as well. There may have been one in mine. A few years back my daughter told me that she thought it possible that her mom, my ex-wife Pam, may be autistic. My daughter’s expertise is in early childhood development, she has some knowledge of autism. In a September forum post, Final Decision, I started a conversation about assisted suicide after Pam suffered a devastating stroke. I was touched by the deeply personal stories posted in response both for and against. Pam died the following week, it was a sad ending to a tortured life. While it would be disingenuous of me to say I mourned her passing, I have spent many hours contemplating our life together. Although there were years of marital, family, and individual counseling no one ever suggested autism as a possibility, but some of Pam’s challenges have me thinking that my daughter may have been correct. For Pam, mentally processing daily situations was difficult. Miss-interpreting actions by friends as slights. Extreme reactions or judgments to things that the kids or others had done. An inability to handle minor conflicts in a rational and calm manner. Problems with employers. Awkward social situations. Depression. So if an adult is autistic, how does their partner deal with it? How did I deal with it? Did my reactive behavior exacerbate Pam’s mental state? For me, coming home from work often felt like stepping into a pressure cooker. My yard work…

My Favorite Rx

Dan Smith | Mar 19, 2026

It’s not your typical prescription, it’s not even the creation of a biotech company. My favorite med is a product of those crazy Generation Xers. No, not medicinal gummies, I’m talking about the chill pill, as in, “take a chill pill”, “chill out”, "chill dude” and etc. The chill pill helps control my blood pressure, and probably contributes to good health in other ways as well. I’m not perfect, but I try. Earlier today, at Krogers, my phone wouldn’t let me scan a digital coupon. Oh the humanity. I began to punish my not-so-smart phone, but had to cease and desist after a crowd, with videos rolling, began to form a circle. Maybe I’ll become a YouTube celebrity. I never “lose” it with Chrissy, as she would deal with my tantrum in a most decisive and unpleasant manner. And I’m pretty chill behind the wheel of my car. My philosophy is that if I wouldn’t swear at you face to face, I shouldn’t cuss you out from the safety of my car. That, and the fact that you may be armed and dangerous. A chill pill helps me when someone says something I don’t agree with. I mean, while everyone is entitled to my opinion, I know that the constitution gives them the right to disagree with me, as long they don’t mind being wrong. The chill pill also helps me deal with stock market volatility. I learned my lesson years ago, on Black Monday, and have chilled out ever since. The moral of my story is that with the recent volatility in the market, a chill pill might help you keep your sanity.

I Ain’t Stupid Ya Know

Dan Smith | Aug 27, 2024

I know what a mutual fund is. I can even engage in a semi-literate discussion involving things like alpha, beta, inverted yield curves, and etc. On the other hand, I’d be lost in an in-depth conversation with the likes of a Grossman, Clements, or certain other HD contributors. So how much knowledge does one actually need to manage their own investments without the need for paid help?

What If

Dan Smith | Mar 2, 2025

Last month I did my best to analyze investments to the market as an alternative to payroll taxes for Social Security. My conclusion was that the payroll taxes were worth it, though some readers respectfully disagreed. But what if I could go back in time for a do-over. What if at age 16 I began to invest an amount into the market that was equal to and in addition to the payroll tax deducted from my pay? It wouldn’t have been hard to do. The payroll tax in 1969, my first year having a job, was only 4.2%. It gradually increased to its current rate of 6.2% in 1990. For me, that would have meant a nest egg of 2 million bucks when I retired at age 70, much more if I’d included eventual employer matches. It also would have meant more spendable income during the final 20 or so years working, as I was saving about 40% of my income in an effort to make up for lost time. Finally, what if I could get my grandkids to do what I wish I had done!

Spouses SS benefits don’t always equal half workers benefit.

Subconscious Frugality

How Did You Find Paid Work After Retiring from Your Primary Career?

Go While You Still Can

2025 and Medicare Rx

Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) are a Generational Bargain Right Now

Taking a Loss?

What I Retired To

Today in Financial History

Widow Tax

Credit Card Debt.

Can we be completely safe?

Spouses SS benefits don’t always equal half workers benefit.

Subconscious Frugality

How Did You Find Paid Work After Retiring from Your Primary Career?

Go While You Still Can

2025 and Medicare Rx

Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) are a Generational Bargain Right Now

Taking a Loss?

What I Retired To

Today in Financial History

Free Newsletter

Get Educated

Manifesto

Truths

think

act

Money Guide

Manifesto

Spotlight: Borrowing

So Rewarding

When is it okay to go into debt?

Home Rich Cash Poor

A Perfect Score

Never a Debtor

Credit Card Debt.

Spotlight: Smith

Social Security Solutions

Analog versus Digital

Adult Autism

My Favorite Rx

I Ain’t Stupid Ya Know

What If