But one thing is clear: Congress and the President, whoever his is, will have massive issues to deal with, not the least of which will be the future solvency of Social Security and Medicare. Our political leaders have to stop avoiding dealing with these tough issues. They can't continue to "kick the can down the road." .We need to throw out the stereotype we've had that when you're 65 you quit working and head to the golf course. In the wake of the Great Recession, it doesn't really work financially for most folks. Even though my book has the word "retirement" in the title, about one-third of the chapters deal with careers and work at midlife and beyond -- tips for finding jobs, starting an entrepreneurial venture or launching an encore career focused on social contribution. .COLAs Reach All Time Lows At Same Time Seniors Report Expenses Higher Than Ever .In 1977 Social Security was going bankrupt because of a flawed benefit formula that raised benefits too quickly. That year Congress passed legislation which changed the way benefits were calculated starting with retirees who were born in 1917 and became eligible for benefits in 197The changes were major and the transition between the old and new method of calculating benefits did not work as anticipated. .On Tuesday, the federal government shut down for the first time in seventeen years due to a legislative impasse between leaders in the House and Senate. Four days in, neither side has wavered much from its position. Leaders in the Senate are pressuring the House to pass a "clean" temporary funding measure, while leaders in the House continue to demand provisions that would delay or defund the Affordable Care Act. .Social Security runs two disability programs – each with separate sources of funding. SSDI provides income to under age 65 adults that is calculated from their own work covered by FICA taxes. Their benefits are paid from the SSDI Fund. The Supplemental Security Income program (SSI) also pays disability benefits, but it's for low-income people without enough of work history to qualify for SSDI. Benefits are funded through both federal (and some state) revenues, and it's means tested like welfare. .Second, the Social Security 2100 Act (H.R. 1902) gained one new cosponsor in Representative Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), bringing the cosponsor total to 16If signed into law, H.R. 1902 would strengthen Social Security benefits by improving the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), increasing monthly benefits by 2 percent, creating a new Special Minimum Benefit equal to 125% of the poverty line, providing a tax cut to Social Security beneficiaries, applying the payroll tax to annual income over 0,000, and gradually increasing the payroll tax rate by 0.25%. .The news came from preliminary findings from Oxford University, a co-developer of the vaccine. The research could also bring scientists closer to an answer to one of the big questions about the vaccination drive: Will the vaccines curb the spread of the coronavirus? .A study by the Health Care Cost Institute found that people receiving observation and other outpatient services in the hospital paid four times more out-of-pocket than inpatients in 2012— an average of per inpatient versus 9 for outpatients. Under Medicare, outpatients usually have co-payments or co-insurance for each service from doctors, test, prescription drug, and other hospital services.