News

  • Benefit Bulletin Februarymarch 2016

    TSCL Gears Up For Busy New Year .Living on a Social Security budget can make gift-giving tough. Here are five thoughtful ideas for do-it-yourself gifts that will make the season merrier for all: .A report conducted by the Congressional Management Foundation claims that this year's budget will force House member offices to trim an additional 90,000 dollars in each office. A reduction to staff positions could mean decreased constituent services as responsibilities are shifted. … Continued

  • Benefit Bulletin July 2018

    Social Security's "full" retirement age is the age at which you qualify for full, un-reduced benefits. It's based on your date of birth, so it varies for everyone. In 1983, Congress enacted changes that very gradually raised the full retirement age to age 67 by the year 202The full retirement age for people born between 1943 and 1954 is 6For those born in 1955 it is 66 and 2 months and it goes up 2 months per year for those born between 1956 and 195For people born in 1960 and thereafter, the full retirement age is 67. .When you start retirement benefits before your full retirement age– which for you is 66 — you may work, but Social Security will withhold one dollar in benefits for every in earnings above the limit. The question for many people who go this route is when the withholding starts. .If you're like most seniors, you probably depend on Social Security for at least half of your income. But how well does the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) protect you from rising costs? TSCL will soon release some answers to this question with the results of its 7th Annual Survey of Senior Costs. In recent years these surveys have indicated that Social Security beneficiaries lose a considerable portion of their buying power — as much as 31 percent — in as little as the first decade of retirement. … Continued

Because of the advanced ages of Notch Babies, the cost of correcting the Notch is falling every day. TSCL estimates (in 2006) that the cost of Notch Reform would be about billion, or slightly less than .75 billion per year over the next four years. The billion could be financed without taking additional money from the Social Security Trust Fund. This could be done through cutting wasteful pork barrel spending and reducing fraud and abuse in government programs. In fiscal year 2006 alone, lawmakers spent about billion in pork-barrel projects (8). That doesn't include what the government lost to improper payments, fraud, and abuse. The Government Accountability Office estimated that for fiscal year 2005 government agencies improperly spent more than billion (9). .TSCL strongly supports quick passage of the urgently needed legislation to stop the cuts. .On Tuesday, the Senate HELP Committee held a bipartisan hearing to discuss the rising costs of prescription drugs. Members of the committee heard from four expert witnesses, including Doctor Paul Howard – Director of Health Policy at the Manhattan Institute – and Doctor Gerard Anderson – Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. .The federal government negotiates prescription drug prices for Medicaid and for veterans, but it is not allowed to negotiate lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries. Do you support this policy? .Lawmakers Adjourn for Holiday Recess ."The Senior Citizens League Predicts Social Security COLA May Be Post-Election Deficit-Cutting Target" .In addition to congressional committee work in the 116th Congress, several new bills have been introduced that would reduce prescription drug costs. Several of them – including the following three – have already won bipartisan support in the new Congress. .TSCL Supports Bills to Prevent Premium Hike .America's seniors deserve a secure retirement without the constant worry of how to make ends meet. Washington should be helping in this effort, not making it harder. But that's not what's happening.