The Social Security Administration has a new tool to help people estimate how much they'll receive in Social Security Benefits once they retire. The Retirement Estimator gives you estimates for early retirement, full retirement age, and age 70. The tool is okay, but obviously, the further from retirement you are, the less accurate the estimate will probably be.

In order to use this tool, you'll have to include your full name, date of birth, Social Security number, and mother's maiden name. I was concerned about how identity thieves could exploit the system, since anyone could pretend to be you. Thankfully, SSA did put a protection in place: It only offers estimates of your retirement benefits and doesn't show the earnings history that was used to calculate the benefits.

I'm not counting on getting any Social Security benefits once I retire. It's clear that the current system can't be sustained as the Baby Boomers retire, and a revamp of it will likely leave people like me paying in more over my work life and receiving nothing once I retire. But if you're nearing retirement age, it's a nice tool to help you find out how much you'll be getting on a monthly basis.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

The Social Security administration rolled out a new version of its online benefits calculator today. The new version of the benefits calculator requires less input from the user by making use of the Social Security database to determine past wages. The new incarnation also enables users to factor in higher future earnings when calculating benefits, making for a more realistic outcome. The new "Retirement Estimator" is available right now on the Social Security website.

I was excited to learn that the SSA has taken at least half of the guesswork out of the benefit calculator by accessing the past data they have on you; unfortunately you're still left to determine what you will make for the rest of your working years.

Even if you have to make an educated guess in order to complete the process, the benefit calculator is still way more useful than the bleak annual mailing I've gotten for several years now, informing me of my current benefits, which suggest that I will be lucky to collect 78 cents on the dollar in my retirement.

The Treasury Department is rolling out a debit card today in 10 states so that people without bank accounts won't waste their sustenance checks on huge check cashing fees. The DirectExpress Debit MasterCard automatically loads new payments onto the card each month, so there are no checks to be lost in the mail or wasted.

In theory, it's a great idea. When check cashing fees take a big bite out federal benefits checks, they're effectively taking a big bite out of what taxpayers shell out to take care of seniors and the disabled. We don't want the people who most desperately need the money most getting gouged.

But the new system isn't totally free, either. This card comes with lots of new fees. You get one free ATM withdrawl per check. After that, it's 90 cents each withdrawl. And you have to find an ATM that's in their free networks or get hit with the bank's fee. Its network has 50,000 ATMs -- Comerica Bank, Charter One, Privileged Status, Alliance One, PNC Bank, MasterCard® ATM Alliance, and MoneyPass. Nationwide there are 360,759 ATMs as of 2007, the Bost Globe Reports. So, only about one in seven will not charge users a fee.

Saving for retirement when you're in your 20s or 30s might seem silly. It's sure not as fun as spending your whole paycheck on things you probably don't need. But young consumers need to see this video to appreciate why saving for retirement is so important.

Setting money aside now surely is less painful than living in a van? Than skipping meals because you don't have enough food? I started saving for retirement as soon as I got out of college. I signed up for the 401(k) plans offered by employers, and even after I became self-employed, retirement savings was one of my top financial priorities.

Young consumers are too quick to think that they have plenty of time to save for retirement. With the uncertainty of our Social Security and Medicare systems, its more important than ever to be prepared. Start saving now and avoid this kind of pain in your golden years.


Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

When the economy is tanking, most journalists take it upon themselves to provide the voice of reason, to reassure the concerned investor that all is not lost. Why? Because we know that our system, all systems beyond barter, depend on trust, and the loss of trust has devastating consequences.

This got me to thinking about the last time we lost our trust, and the ramifications. This gallery is a sobering reflection on a time when trust failed.

The taxability of social security benefits depends upon your income and your marital status. If social security was your only source of income, you probably will not have to pay taxes on it.

However, if you have income from other sources, you may end up paying income taxes on part (or all) of your social security benefits. The easiest way to figure whether or not your benefits will be taxable is to add one-half of your social security benefits to your total other income. If the total of this calculation exceeds $25,000 for single individuals or $32,000 for married couples filing jointly, some or all of your benefits will be taxable.

Even if you have no taxable social security benefits for 2007, you may still want to file a tax return for 2007. In order to receive a check under the new economic stimulus package, you will need to file the 2007 return to show that you had at least $3,000 in qualifying income. Social security income does qualify under the package.

More information on the taxability of social security benefits can be found in IRS Publication 915.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

As someone who was born at the end of the Baby Boom and who's been paying into the Social Security system since I got my first McJob as a teenager in 1982, I'm worried that when it comes time for me to get my cut, there'll be nothing left. After all, according to USA Today, I'm one of 80 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 who could qualify for Social Security and Medicare in the next 22 years.

The first wave of Boomers broke into the Social Security system this week, when 62-year-old Kathleen Casey-Kirschling -- whose midnight birth on Jan. 1, 1946, makes her America's first Boomer -- signed on for benefits. This opened the floodgates for the 3.2 million citizens who hit the big 6-2 next year, making them eligible for early retirement. According to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, the average age at which workers in this country start receiving Social Security is 63.

Those who've crunched all these numbers say that if this trend continues, Social Security rolls will increase by 34 million by 2030, and Medicare by 35 million. The Social Security trust fund will start paying out more benefits than it collects by 2017 and is projected to deplete its reserves by 2041.

It's nice to know that we can rely on the federal government to be right on the cutting edge of technology -- a decade after it was the cutting edge...

On Friday, the Treasury Department announced that it would begin offering the option of providing monthly Social Security payments on special Social Security debit cards, hoping that millions of senior citizens without bank accounts. In addition, officials estimate that every recipient used the card instead of receiving checks, it would save taxpayers $44 million per year.

Keeping low-income Social Security recipients out of the hands of check cashers is incredibly important and, if properly advertised, this should play a key role in doing that.

The only question is: What took our wonderful public servants so long to do this?

You may be wondering if Social Security will be there when you retire. If you're 20 or 30-something, you've probably already been convinced the money will run out before you ever get there. I believe it's all scare tactics to try and sell a privatization plan that would kill Social Security.

Social Security is a pay as you go system. About 85% of the money you are now paying into Social Security goes directly toward paying people who are now collecting it. The other 15% goes into the Trust Fund. The Trust Fund was almost out of money in the early 1980s, when Alan Greenspan headed a commission to fix Social Security. The commission recommended raising Social Security taxes, which have been in place since then. The raise was intended to build up the Trust Fund so there would be enough for the Baby Boomer generation when it was set to retire.

It's true that in 2017, we'll start drawing down the funds in the Trust Fund, because there will be a large growth spurt in Social Security payments as Baby Boomers start collecting. It's true that right now it's projected those Trust Funds will be used up in 2041, but that date gets adjusted each year depending on actual results of the fund.

Of course, when and if the Fund actually runs dry is largely guess work. Someone born in 1965, when the population explosion finally started to slow after World War II, and generally considered the end of the Baby Boom, would be 76 years old in 2041, which means we'll be nearing the end of the Baby Boom population's retirement phase. Many Baby Boomers will likely be dead by that time. Average life span is about 78 years and experts expect that may even drop because of obesity in the U.S.