In 2018 Sally will finally get a COLA of 2% raising her monthly benefit of ,003 by .10 to ,023.However, if Medicare Part B premiums would be 4 per month in 2018 — Sally would need a COLA of .10 to cover the full cost of Part B premiums. Because Sally's benefit only increased .10, the increase in her Part B premium cannot exceed that amount. Thus Sally will continue to receive hold harmless protection and her monthly Medicare Part B premium would be adjusted downwards to 8.00 (7.90 + .10) to avoid reduction of her Social Security benefit. .This week, the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees released their highly anticipated annual reports on the financial status of the two programs. One congressional subcommittee held a hearing to discuss the findings, and The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) saw . .Incredibly, to count as poor under the official poverty measure, your income must fall below a threshold, which is based on subsistence level food costs in 195When adopted in 1963, the poverty threshold was defined as three times the "subsistence food budget" for a family of a given size. Unlike other government measures, like the consumer price index, which undergoes continual changes to methodology, the official poverty measure has never changed, other than annual adjustments for inflation. .In addition to Medicare Part A and B, you will need additional insurance. Medicare alone does not cover everything, and there are considerable out-of-pocket costs that would suck your life savings right out of any nest egg you might have. You will need to decide between a supplemental insurance policy, known as Medigap, and a free-standing prescription drug plan, or to join a Medicare Advantage plan with prescription drug coverage. TSCL strongly recommends that you get free, unbiased counseling, to learn your options and to find the most reasonably-priced coverage for your needs. All areas of the country offer this Medicare counseling through State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIP). Although the actual name of the program in your area may vary, you can find the programs operating through your area agency on aging, senior center, or get contact info here: https://www.shiptacenter.org .Up to 85 percent of Social Security benefits can be subject to taxation if an individual has a combined income of ,000 and married couples filing jointly have a combined income of ,000. Had income thresholds been adjusted for inflation, they would be about ,902 for individuals and ,515 for joint filers in 2020. "Combined income" is determined by adding one's adjusted gross income, plus any tax - free interest income, and one - half of Social Security benefits. .Given that disabled beneficiaries would receive on average 0,000 prior to transferring to Social Security benefits, even the smallest error in determining eligibility can result in significant overpayments. TSCL believes that the government should make every effort to perform timely continuing disability reviews (CDRs) to ensure that benefits are only paid out to those who are eligible. The Social Security Administration estimates that every spent on medical CDRs yields about in SSA program savings over ten years. Currently the CDR backlog stands at 1.2 million. SSA's goal for FY2013 is 435,000 CDRs based on the current level of funding. .When you buy an immediate annuity, you give up control of a hefty lump-sum of your retirement savings and you can't change your mind and get your money back once you buy it. When you and your beneficiary die, no money goes to your heirs. .The benefit reduction would be caused by a feature of the Social Security benefit formula that is sensitive to economic recessions and high unemployment. The first step in calculating benefits is to adjust the individual's earnings using the average wage index (AWI) in order to convert the value of past earnings into today's dollars. The AWI is also used to adjust the earnings levels that determine the portion of their average monthly earnings that people are allowed to keep as their benefit. .Why does decision making have to be so hard? How much time is the right amount to spend on thinking things over? Can you even name anyone who never made a bad decision? We can't either.