I don’t know how you folks get by without being scared out of your wits by misleading Social Security stories you read in newspapers or see online. Because I know the subject so well, and because I can decipher the confusing and sometimes scary Social Security-related muck that’s out there, it doesn’t bother me. But I can see where a Social Security layperson could get worried or fooled by so much of what is seen in print or online.
Just last week, I wrote a column in which I tried to clarify the points made in an article that had this headline: “Social Security Mistakes That Could Cost You a Fortune.” Almost all the information in that column was rather mundane stuff that most people already know. And even not knowing it wouldn’t have led to a series of fortune-costing mistakes.