July 4th brings family and friends together, as well as neighbors, to celebrate that we’re all part of a community. Everyone pitches in, combining their resources — great food, music, and displays — to lift our spirits.

MIAMI-DADE – Miami-Dade County Commission Chairwoman Audrey M. Edmonson, joined by Communities United Inc. Executive Director Hattie Willis, distributed hurricane preparedness kits to low-income senior citizens throughout neighborhoods within her District 3 on June 21, 2019.

Social Security is committed to protecting your personal information. We urge you to always be cautious and to avoid providing sensitive information such as your Social Security number (SSN) or bank account information to unknown people over the phone or internet. If you receive a call and aren’t expecting one, you must be extra careful. You can always get the caller’s information, hang up, and — if you do need more clarification — contact the official phone number of the business or agency that the caller claims to represent. Never reveal personal data to a stranger who called you.

Affordable medical coverage is something everyone wants, especially as people age. Luckily, our nation has safeguards for workers as they get older. Millions of people rely on Medicare, and it can be part of your health insurance plan when you retire.

Many people enjoy the independence of owning and operating their own small business. If you’re a small business owner, you know that you have additional financial responsibilities when reporting your taxes. A part of this is paying into Social Security.  

Social Security touches the lives of nearly every American, whether at the birth of a child, the loss of a loved one, the onset of a disability, or the transition from work to retirement. For more than 80 years, our programs have contributed to the financial security of the elderly and the disabled. Social Security replaces a percentage of a worker’s pre-retirement income based on their lifetime earnings. The amount of your average wages that Social Security retirement benefits replaces varies depending on your earnings and when you choose to start benefits. If you start benefits after full retirement age, these percentages are higher. If you start benefits earlier, these percentages are lower. Most financial advisers say you will need about 70 percent of pre-retirement income to live comfortably in retirement, including your Social Security benefits, investments, and personal savings.

Social Security matters to millions of people and that’s why we aptly named our blog Social Security Matters. Over the past several years, more and more people have realized that our blog is a trusted source for information and easy-to-share articles. Here are five recent popular blog posts:

MIAMI-DADE – The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners on June 4 honored Julia Dawson for her decades of social justice advocacy, leadership and volunteer efforts in Miami-Dade County and throughout Florida. Dawson recently retired and soon plans to relocate to Virginia. 

Cancer prevention efforts rarely focus on the distinct needs and circumstances of older people, who are at greatest risk for developing cancer, but society can do more to reduce cancer risk and preserve health as adults enter their 60s, 70s, and beyond — according to a new supplement to the journal The Gerontologist from The Gerontological Society of America.

MIAMI-DADE – May is Older Americans Month, and Miami-Dade County Commission Chairwoman Audrey M. Edmonson is inviting the public to celebrate senior citizens by participating in a number of community events that promote their financial, physical, emotional and mental wellbeing.

No matter how much you’ve planned, there’s no better time than now to think about your future. We’d like to encourage you to take Five Steps toward Your Financial Security. Planning for the future may seem intimidating to many, but we’ve broken the task down into five easy steps:

Spring is upon us, and it marks two very popular annual events: Mother’s Day and the release of Social Security’s baby name list! There’s no better time to share some security with the people you love.