Westside Investment Management Newsletter

Optimizing your Social Security retirement benefits means getting the best return possible on each dollar you've contributed to the system. Every pay period, you pay 6.2 percent of your salary in taxes that finance your future benefits and those of other Americans. In addition, your employer pays an equal share of taxes; if you're self-employed, you contribute both your own portion and the employer portion by paying a self-employment tax.

The SECURE 2.0 legislation included in the $1.7 trillion appropriations bill passed late last year builds on changes established by the original Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE 1.0) enacted in 2019. SECURE 2.0 includes significant changes to the rules that apply to required minimum distributions from IRAs and employer retirement plans. Here's what you need to know.

Targeted scams have become even more popular with the amount of personal information readily available on the internet. Social Security recipients are, unfortunately, targeted by some of the most sophisticated scam artists out there. From phone scams to phishing attempts and intercepted deposits, here are three common Social Security scams and how you might avoid being fooled by them.