News

  • Tag Cost Of Living Adjustment Feed

    This week TSCL has been focused on two issues we are very concerned about. The first is the payroll tax cut that we told you about last week. As a reminder, President Trump has said he wants a payroll tax cut in the next financial relief legislation Congress develops in response to the coronavirus. TSCL opposes that because it would further damage the financial well-being of the Social Security and Medicare programs. Both programs already need fixing because the lack of financial resources in the coming years may result cutting benefits to seniors. In fact, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is among Congressional leaders who have already called for that, although they don't call it cutting benefits, they say there is a need to "reign in the costs" of the programs. .If adopted, the Ways and Means Committee's tax bill would consolidate the existing individual tax brackets, phase in a repeal of the estate tax, and permanently reduce the corporate tax rate, among many other provisions. The bill does not include reductions to the limits on 401(k) contributions as many – including TSCL – expected. It would keep the current limits on 401(k) contributions unchanged at ,000 per year (or ,000 for those over the age of fifty). .TSCL enthusiastically supports the Strengthening Social Security Act and the Social Security Fairness Act, and we were pleased to see support grow for both of them this week. … Continued

  • October 2012 Millionaire Corner

    Your guaranteed issue rights for Medigap. If you want to purchase a Medigap policy, you need to do so during your Initial Enrollment Period. If you miss your Initial Enrollment Period, Medigap supplemental insurers can impose month waiting periods for pre-existing conditions that can leave you footing the bills until your coverage finally kicks in. On the other hand all Medicare Advantage plans offer guarantee issue rights, without exclusions or higher costs for pre-existing conditions or age during Medicare's fall annual enrollment periods. .When hold harmless is triggered program-wide as in 2016, however, there is no specific provision of law with which to finance the unpaid portion of Medicare Part B premium increases for the roughly 43 million who are protected by the provision. In the past, Congress has chosen to allow this cost burden to shift to the 30 percent of beneficiaries who are not held harmless. Because the cost is spread over far fewer people instead of all beneficiaries, they pay a far larger share of the costs, thus the Part B premium spikes. .If you feel that this site is not following its stated privacy policy, you may contact us by writing to The Senior Citizens League, 1800 Diagonal Road, Suite 600, Alexandria, VA 22314, through e-mail at comments@ or call us at800-333-TSCL (8725). All received complaints will be investigated and responded to promptly. … Continued

When asked what portion of Social Security benefits retirees spent on healthcare here's how survey participants responded: .In her opening statement, Chairman Susan Collins (ME), said: "Deciding at what age to begin claiming Social Security retirement benefits is the single most important financial decision that many Americans will ever make. Few, however, understand that making the wrong choice can end up costing them tens of thousands of dollars, or more, during their retirement." Retirees who qualify for Social Security benefits are entitled to begin collecting at 62, but for each delayed year, benefits grow by 8 percent until they reach their maximum amount at age 70. According to Chairman Collins, deciding when to file for benefits "could make the difference between a secure retirement and living in poverty." .A surviving beneficiary spouse is one who collects Social Security benefits not from their own account, but from the account of his or her deceased spouse. To find out more about Notch Reform benefits for surviving beneficiaries, click here: What Happens to Benefit Payments When Your Spouse is Deceased? .In addition, next week lawmakers will continue working on a spending package that will fund the federal government past December 9th. Negotiations have already begun to pass a continuing resolution (CR) that will provide short-term funding through January 201However, if those in the House and Senate fail to reach a compromise before the looming deadline, the government will shut down like it did in 2013 and Social Security beneficiaries could see negative impacts. .By Rick Delaney, Chairman of the Board, TSCL .Look, nobody gets wealthy off of Social Security. It's a subsistence level program. .Some policy analysts argue that the "chained" CPI is more accurate, but the Congressional Budget Office has stated that using that index has limitations. Unlike the conventional consumer price index in which final data from one month to the next is available in about two weeks, final data for the chained CPI isn't available until well over a year and a half. "That means preliminary estimates that are subject to error would have to be used for indexing," Johnson explains. .TSCL is supportive of both of Rep. DeFazio's bills, and we were pleased to see support grow for them this week. .If signed into law, this bill would repeal the windfall elimination provision (WEP) and establish a new formula to calculate benefits for those with non-covered earnings. The WEP currently affects more than one million seniors who collect Social Security benefits and have earned pensions from non-Social Security-covered employment.