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For the Week of September 26th, 2025
Outsmarting AI, Big Social Security Announcement Coming Soon, and Setting Family Finance Boundaries
Here’s your weekly Retirement Red Flags roundup - crafted to keep retirees sharp, safe, and a step ahead. This week’s themes: AI-driven scams targeting retirees, tough-love money decisions with adult children, and a cluster of Social Security changes (both imminent and on the horizon). Let’s dive in.
By RetirementRedFlags.com
Track this week’s moves to protect your benefits, avoid costly traps, and keep your retirement on course.
1. Social Security: Highly-Anticipated COLA Forecast Coming October 15th
The Social Security Administration will officially announce the 2026 COLA along with updated benefit tables in just under 1 month from today. This figure not only sets your monthly increase but also influences Medicare premiums, tax brackets, and earnings test limits. In short, the update shapes your cash flow, healthcare costs, and tax planning for the year ahead.
Action Steps:
✔ Run a “what-if” budget: Model low/middle/high COLA cases so you know how much flexibility you have.
✔ Coordinate with Medicare: A modest COLA can be nibbled by premium changes. Review plan options before fall open enrollment.
✔ Tune taxes & withdrawals: Adjust withholding; line up QCDs and RMD timing; revisit your tax-efficient withdrawal order.
2. Social Security: Payments Go Fully Electronic on September 30th
The Treasury/SSA are finishing the move to electronic payments. If you still receive a paper Social Security check, you’ll be transitioned to direct deposit or the Direct Express® debit card by September 30th. Acting now helps you avoid delays or misrouted payments.
Action Steps:
✔ Enroll or confirm details: Log in to your my Social Security account or call your bank to add direct deposit for SSA. Make sure to double-check your routing/account numbers and mailing address.
✔ If you genuinely can’t use electronic options, ask SSA/Treasury about hardship exceptions. They’re rare, apply early.
3. New AI Deceptions and Straightforward Ways to Spot Them
A timely piece flags how AI tools now churn out believable deepfakes and voice clones - often used to impersonate a grandchild in trouble or to spread misleading “news” aimed at older audiences. The fixes aren’t complicated: slow the moment down, verify, and keep family “rules of engagement” for urgent requests.
Action Steps:
✔ Create a family passphrase. Agree on a code word for any “urgent” call/text asking for money or personal info.
✔ Call back on a known number. If “your grandchild” calls from an unknown number, hang up and call their real number.
✔ Lock down public info. Reduce what scammers can scrape: trim birthday/location details from social media profiles.
✔ Learn the red flags. Urgency, secrecy (“don’t tell Mom”), unusual payment methods (crypto, gift cards) = stop.
4. When Helping Adult Children Hurts Your Retirement
A widely shared USA TODAY piece argues it may be time to draw the line on ongoing support for adult kids, especially if it’s derailing your savings, forcing portfolio withdrawals, or inflating debt. It offers practical scripts and boundary-setting tactics so you’re safeguarding your retirement without torpedoing relationships.
Action Steps:
✔ Put numbers on paper. Show your retirement budget and make the trade-offs concrete.
✔ Offer structure, not cash. E.g., 3 months of rent while they apply to 10 jobs/week; after that, taper.
✔ Redirect to resources. Job placement, credit counseling, or a shared “bill audit” to reduce their expenses.
5. Common Investing Pitfalls to Avoid in Your 70s
Yahoo Finance highlighted five mistakes common for Boomers, especially in their 70s: clinging to too much cash, mis-timing risk, ignoring taxes, letting expenses creep, and going it alone without a plan. The piece urges purpose-built allocation, tax-aware withdrawals, and expense hygiene.
Action Steps:
✔ Right-size cash. Keep a 12–24-month “spending reserve,” not 5–7 years. Excess idle cash loses ground to inflation.
✔ Map withdrawals. Sequence taxable → tax-deferred → Roth based on your bracket and IRMAA thresholds.
✔ Prune fees. Revisit fund expense ratios, advisory fees, and recurring subscriptions nibbling at cash flow.
If you have any questions about the headlines that hit the news this week, we are answering questions in our free Facebook group The Retirement Red Flags Community. Click below and we will make sure you get added.
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