Losing a spouse is already an overwhelming emotional experience, but the financial consequences can be equally devastating. One of the biggest surprises surviving spouses face is the "widow's penalty, ...

When a spouse dies, many widows assume that Social Security will automatically pay them the highest benefit available. That assumption is understandable, but it isn't always true. In reality, eligible ...

About a month ago, I wrote a column in which I explained how “full retirement age” (the age at which a person can claim 100 percent of his or her Social Security retirement benefits) is going up. To ...