
Insights
Tag: Social Security

September 22, 2025
The End of Paper Checks for Federal Payments: What Coldstream Clients Need to Know
Beginning September 30, 2025, the U.S. Treasury will no longer issue or accept paper checks for most federal payments. This change affects how Social Security benefits, tax refunds, trust and estate payments, and other government disbursements are delivered. All payments will transition to Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), such as direct deposit into a bank account or a U.S. Treasury–issued [...]

August 7, 2025
Planning Your Social Security Strategy: What to Consider When Claiming Benefits
Claiming Social Security is one of the most important financial decisions you’ll make in retirement—and it’s far from one-size-fits-all. Your choice will affect not only the size of your monthly benefit, but also the total amount you may receive over your lifetime. Factors such as your health, life expectancy, marital status, income needs, and confidence [...]

Contributions from: Rich Merrifield, CFP®, AIF®

February 4, 2025
The Social Security Fairness Act: Will Your Benefits Change?
On January 5, 2025, the Social Security Fairness Act was officially signed into law, repealing both the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). These changes stand to meaningfully increase monthly Social Security benefits for workers who receive a pension based on work not covered by Social Security. What is the Windfall Elimination [...]

Contributions from: Ian Curtiss, CFP®, CFA®, CPWA®, ChSNC
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