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Mary Beth Franklin

Mary Beth Franklin is a Contributing Editor at Investment News specializing in Social Security, Medicare and Retirement income. She has been a financial journalist for more than 40 years, covering everything from federal budget and tax policies as a Capitol Hill reporter for United Press International to consumer finances as a writer and editor at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. Mary Beth became a Certified Financial Planner in 2015 and is an in-demand speaker at conferences for financial professionals as well as a frequent guest on numerous radio and television programs. She is the author of “Maximizing Your Social Security Retirement Benefits” and host of the Retirement Repair Shop podcast. In her free time, Mary Beth likes to read, garden, ski and play the piano. She received a BA in Communications from American University in 1975 where she continues to mentor journalism students.

Displaying 1104 results

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Surprise! 401(k)s rode out the Great Recession just fine

Median balances up substantially; savings still inadequate, though

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  • December 7, 2012

Pre-retirees looking for return of principal — not return on principal

Treasure safety over riskier investments, even if it means trimming spending and working longer

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Mary Beth Franklin: 5 reasons to shop for new Medicare coverage

Rising premiums, changing prescriptions top the list

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  • December 3, 2012

Mary Beth Franklin: Peer pressure pumps up savers

Tool enables users to see how their nest eggs stack up; big motivator, survey finds

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Mary Beth Franklin: Advisers unaware of this Social Security twist

Claiming spousal benefits often leads to larger check than expected

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Pension advocacy group calls for temporary halt to lump-sum buyouts

Over the last few months, several large companies, let by auto giants Ford and GM, announced plans to spin off their traditional pension plans by transferring their liabilities to an insurance company or offering lump-sum payouts to retirees and certain former workers. Verizon was the latest corporation to hop on the de-risking bandwagon, prompting calls from a leading pension advocacy group to halt such actions until Congress can review the impact on workers and retirees

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Ex-wives not X’d out of Social Security survivor benefits

Still subject to age and earnings cap limits; other restrictions may apply

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Mary Beth Franklin: Four costly Social Security mistakes

While some retirees are simply uniformed, others are dangerously misinformed.

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Recipe for success: Retirement savers can learn from WeightWatchers

Majority of on-track affluent retirement savers have written plan; 'scribble before you nibble'