A retirement budget has two major parts: income and expenses. Income can come from many sources, including Social Security or pension retirement benefits, annuity payments, investment interest and retirement account withdrawals.

Millions of Americans rely on Social Security benefits each month, including retirement and survivor benefits, as well as Disability Insurance. While it remains to be seen exactly how the new changes will affect beneficiaries, we'll sort out the details of the latest release and potential impacts you should know about.

You can also request that the IRS withhold money for taxes from your Social Security checks up front. This would save you the trouble of having to do the math to figure out how much you might owe. If it withholds too much from your checks, you'd get the extra back as a refund when you file your tax return.

After you turn 62, Social Security recalculates your benefits every year you don’t claim benefits. It will take your earnings for the latest year, add that to your record of lifetime earnings and select the 35 years with the highest inflation-adjusted earnings.

Social Security retirement benefits are subject to taxes in many cases. But familiarity with the rules and some advance planning can limit the impact.

If there's one thing I'd encourage people to do before claiming benefits, it would be to read your latest Social Security statement.

If you have already applied for benefits, check the Social Security payment schedule for 2025 to find out when your benefits will be arriving throughout the year. You can also che