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  • Notch Bulletin July 2011 Advisor Feed

    Anthony Cummings, a fugitive on the run from a child rape indictment in Georgia, improperly collected thousands of dollars in Supplemental Social Security Income (SSI) payments until the law finally caught up with him. The SSI program, which is administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA), will continue to pay fugitives at least million annually unless state fugitive files can be used to prevent such payments, the agency`s Inspector General recently warned. Auditors estimate that fugitives have collected between 8 million and 0 million in SSI benefits over the past four years. The SSA hopes to negotiate agreements by July to obtain fugitive records from all states. .Continuing Resolution Debate Grows Complex .Despite increased efforts by SSA, Mr. Bagdoyan emphasized the need for better program evaluation. He said: "SSA has taken some steps to establish an organizational culture and structure conducive to fraud risk management in its disability programs … But it has yet to comprehensively assess these risks or develop a strategic approach to ensure its anti-fraud activities effectively mitigate these risks." … Continued

  • Legislative Update Tscl Delivers Listing Of 692164 Petition Signers To Gain Attention Of Capitol Hill

    The Senior Citizens League encourages its supporters to attend these events and to ask important questions of their elected officials, like the following three… .The Congressional Budget Office recently issued a report stating that the federal budget will hit the debt limit and run out of cash early to mid-October. Some Congressional leaders have said they would like to vote on the budget and upcoming debt limit negotiations prior to the August recess. TSCL is fighting the proposal through national efforts from grass roots activists. To learn more, visit . .COLAs have flat - lined at unprecedented lows over the past 7 years, averaging just 1.2 percent a year. That's less than half the 3 percent that COLAs averaged from 2000 to 200"The low growth in Social Security benefits since 2009 has a significant impact on overall retirement income of anyone who has been retired since that year," Johnson says. "For people retired over the past seven years, monthly benefits in 2016 are today 13 percent lower than if inflation had been the more typical 3 percent per year," Johnson explains. "In dollar amounts, that's 0 per month lower for someone with average benefits," she adds. "This is huge and this loss of anticipated retirement income compounds every year causing people to spend through retirement savings far more quickly than planned, " she says. "Over the course of a 25 or 30 year retirement, it reduces anticipated Social Security income by tens of thousands of dollars," Johnson says. "Unfortunately this financial impact is not fully understood by the vast majority of the public and Members of Congress — The Senior Citizens League is working to change that," Johnson notes. … Continued

By delaying the start of your benefit until your full retirement age of 66, your benefit will be 25% higher. Delay until age 70, and your Social Security payment will be 65% higher than if you start it at age 6This can make a huge difference in the monthly income you receive. For example, if entitled to a monthly benefit of ,000 at age 66, you would receive only 0 per month at age 6And if you can delay until age 70 you could take a retirement benefit of ,320. .d freedoms as U.S. Citizens, and to protect and defend the benefits senior citizens have earned and paid for. The Senior Citizens League is a proud affiliate of The Retired Enlisted Association. Visit for more information. .What We Know and What We are Still Learning .My sister lives alone at age 7She has no children. I've noticed a growing number of changes in her health over the past two years. She seems to have problems with anxiety, and recently became immobilized with fear of evacuating her home, prior to a severe hurricane. Fortunately she was OK, despite four days without power. Home maintenance tasks are becoming a huge burden for her and I worry about her vulnerability to scams. When should single older people start making plans for moving to assisted living? .A person with average Social Security benefits in 2000 received 6 per month, a figure that rose to ,166.30 by 201However, that individual would require a Social Security benefit of ,419.00 per month in 2015 just to maintain his or her 2000 buying power, the study found. .However, leaders in the House postponed the vote and the discussion grew complicated after President Obama made a last-minute request to include funding for the training of Syrian rebels in the CR. "This is substantive policy change … Of course I would rather pass a clean, simple CR," said Rep. Mike Rogers (MI-8), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, following the President's request. .At this point, it appears as though Burwell is on an easy road to confirmation. She will face two votes in the coming weeks – one from the Finance Committee and one from the full Senate. TSCL will keep a close eye on the nomination process since the outcome will have a considerable impact on the future of the Social Security and Medicare programs. For updates, visit the Legislative News section of our website. .What can you do? .This week, The Senior Citizens League was pleased to see support grow for three bipartisan bills that would improve the Medicare program and reduce prescription drug prices.