First of all, some basics. Calculation of the benefits you will receive are based on your body of work over a period of forty years. The five years that you earned the least amount are dropped, and the other 35 are averaged to determine your monthly payment. Those who did not work do not get benefits. This is based on a set system where an individual must have worked 40 quarters during their life, and a minimum amount must have been earned during these 40 quarters in order to be considered for Social Security benefits.

A spouse who did not work is eligible for 50% of their working spouses full retirement benefits, and 100% after they die. If a spouse divorced someone after being married at least 10 years, they are eligible for 50% of that spouses full retirement age benefit, if they wait until age 70. At 60 this number is 37.5%.

SS retirement benefits can be started as early as 62 years of age. This does not mean that you have to start receiving benefits when you are 62; you can wait until you are as old as 70. If you choose to start getting benefits at an earlier age, your monthly payments will be smaller. There is a graduated scale involved with the calculations for payments; a 62 year old will get approximately 30% less than one who waits until they are 70. This percentage drops as you near 70.

The SSA, or Social Security Administration, uses your birth date to define retirement age. If you are planning on retiring in 2011, for instance, your retirement age is most likely 66 or 67 years of age; full retirement age means you will get 100% of your benefits.

One consideration to make when deciding when you will retire is that although your monthly payments will be lower if you retire early, this does not mean that you will receive less money in the long run. The reduction takes into account the fact that if you retire at 62 you will end up getting a lot more payments before you pass away than if you retire at 70, and recalculates your monthly benefits based on this. So there is actually no penalty for retiring early.

There are other advantages to waiting until 70 to start Social Security benefits. These individuals can immediately get retirement credits, which can boost monthly payments by 5 to 8%. These credits are assigned based on age; if you are born after 1943 you get 8%. These benefits stop going up when you reach 70.

So, unlike what you may hear from friends and family, there is no disadvantage or penalty involved for retiring early. On average, everyone who retires between the ages of 62 and 67 should see the same amount of money over their lifetime; the difference is in the amount of the monthly benefit check.

There are other considerations. If it is in your plans to continue working after retiring early, you should know that you will need to continue to pay SS taxes on all earning, even if you are receiving benefits. If you are not at full retirement age, there is an earnings cap of $14,160; this goes up to almost $40,000 after reaching full retirement age.

Once again, this should not be seen as a penalty. If you work when receiving benefits, and happen to go over the cap, some of your earnings may be taken from you, but these will be credited to you after full retirement age, and could mean higher payouts later. This is one of the most complicated aspects of Social Security benefits, but is also one of the most beneficial to you in the long run.

Getting to the point where you are considering whether to retire early or wait until full retirement age can be an intimidating time in your life. With many people nowadays deciding to work after retirement, it has become more important than ever to know exactly what is involved when filling out your Social Security paperwork. Understanding all the benefits and implications behind the Social Security system can help ease some of the stress involved with the numerous decisions that need to be made at this important point in your life.

Census figures revealed that the wealthiest Americans (10% of the population) earned a 11.4 times more than those living almost at the poverty level. Even if it’s just a rise of 0.2 times from 2007, that is still an ratio increase that clearly shows the disparity between earning capacities.

While income declined across all social classes, the middle and lower classes saw a more significant decrease compared to the income drops for the rich ones.

Unemployment and home foreclosures are the ones to blame for this trend. The recession left many middle class white collar Americans jobless and homeless as markets fell square on their asses.

Many Americans who were more comfortable spending in previous years aren’t as comfortable now as austerity measures sank in to the general consciousness.

Source: MSNBC

The Lundberg Survey, which monitors gas prices in the US, cites that the average price of a gallon of self-serve at the pumps is $2.52.

The survey pegs the lowering crude oil prices at the world market to be the driver of the pump prices. Demand is down over the past two months.

The lowest gas can be found in St. Louis, Missouri at $2.16 and the highest is in Anchorage, Alaska at $3.29.

Typically, summer prices rise due to increased travel, however the recession and the continuing unemployment has greatly affected US demand on the consumer level.

Source: CNN

Indexes were at one-year highs prior to Wednesday’s decline.

Early tallies revealed that the Dow lost 0.5% or 45 points. The Standard & Poor lost 0.9% or 10 points. Tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.1% or 23 points.

The trading day started out with a positive tone as report from the Labor Department revealed that jobless claims fell for the third straight week, hinting that the job market is finally improving.

However, the dismal housing report and the drop in commodity prices prompting another losing day for investors.

Many were hoping that the rally will be sustained as The Fed declared that the recession is over. The recovery, however, remains to be slow.

Source: CNN

Unfortunately, not everyone’s cut for entrepreneurship. The Wall Street Journal ran an article of five questions any budding entrepreneur should ask oneself. Quite a handy guide, I might say.

Paraphrased, here are the key abilities that any entrepreneur should have (with comments):

1. Passion – Being an entrepreneur means that you should be able to effectively market and sell your product or service. Many might have the gift of gab but nothing helps a salesperson more than having the belief and passion in the product or service he or she provides.

2. Risk Taking – It might mean taking out a loan or using your life savings. Quitting your full-time job perhaps.

3. Decision Making – Decisions have to be made and some trickier ones need to be made not only swiftly but also smartly.

4. Multitasking – You might not have that large a capital to be able to hire people for various positions, so be prepared to be able to take on several responsibilities at a time.

5. Stress Tolerance – Putting up a business takes real time and effort. Establishing organizitions are tough and growing pains are inevitable so better be sure you can take risks and absorb unfavorable consequences.