News

  • Is It Safe To Refinance A Mortgage Once Retired

    New Analysis Says Social Security/Medicare in Worse Shape Now than Earlier This Year .65 million Americans currently rely on Social Security benefits, yet many still struggle just to make ends meet, to the shame of the nation, millions have worked all their lives, paid into a system, and receive a below poverty line check from Social Security. .It sounds as though your daughter's father-in-law didn't sign up for Medicare Part B by his enrollment deadline and is now subject to a late enrollment penalty. For each 12-month period he delayed enrollment in Medicare Part B, he will have to pay a 10% Part B penalty. A penalty of as much as an extra 0 per month in addition to the current premium of 8.50 for 2021, suggests that he is being penalized for a 16-year period he did not have Medicare coverage. That suggests that he didn't enroll at age 6That would mean his base Medicare Part B premium could be 8.50 per month when he enrolls. … Continued

  • Legislative Update Week Ending July 1 2016

    Ensuring that governmental bodies live up to any commitment made to senior citizens. .However, current benefits, as we will learn today, are inadequate, unfair, and in many cases discriminatory, because of systemic economic inequities. .However, price negotiations could be included later this year in a reconciliation bill, a fast-track budgetary move that only needs 51 votes to pass the Senate and cannot be blocked using a filibuster. … Continued

Get quotes from 5 to 10 highly-rated insurance companies. Make sure you are getting apples–to–apples comparisons for the same type of annuity. .The Senior Citizens League's members nation-wide agree that the elimination of the medical expense deduction would be a significant loss for those living on fixed incomes. I encourage lawmakers to keep this critical tax deduction in place and to take a stand for older and disabled Americans as tax reform discussions continue in the days and weeks ahead. .They claim that a "Buy American" order could raise domestic drug prices, since both labor and materials are much more expensive in the U.S. — which could cut against one of The President's signature health care planks going into the November election. .Extremely low cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) not only affect Social Security benefits, the 0.3% COLA also affects the amount of Medicare Part B premium people will pay in 201When no, or a very low, COLA occurs, a provision of law known as "hold harmless" is triggered. Under the provision, when an individual's Social Security COLA is insufficient to cover the increase in the individual's Medicare Part B premium, the Part B premium is adjusted so that the Social Security benefit isn't reduced from one year to the next. .Just years before they were set to retire, these individuals learned that they would have significantly lower benefits than originally anticipated. The issue was created by the amendments to the Social Security Act that were signed into law in 1977, and it has compounded over time. .According to an analysis by Johnson, the impact of switching to the more slowly - growing "chained" CPI would compound over time, with the deepest cuts accruing after people had spent 25 or 30 years in retirement. After 25 years, benefits would be cut by about 4.6 percent, and by 5.5 percent after 30 years. For someone with average benefits of ,245 in 2017, benefits would be 0 per month lower from using the chained CPI after 25 years, and 6 per month lower after 30 years, the analysis found. .This week, lawmakers remained in their home states and districts to continue campaigning for the November 8th elections. They are expected to return to Capitol Hill in mid-November to begin the lame duck session of Congress. Until then, most lawmakers will be attending local events and holding town hall meetings in their home states and districts. .This week, lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill following a week-long holiday recess, and four Members of Congress signed on as cosponsors to key legislation that would make the Social Security program more equitable for public employees. .Please help us continue our important work on behalf of senior citizens and retirees. Make a secure, online donation today.