Headlines
Let’s make Social Security solvent and sustainable
It’s not so hard to figure out how to fix Social Security. Plenty of analysts have arrived at ways to keep the nation’s most successful government program from running short on money in 20 years. Many different combinations of policy…
A Booster Shot for Social Security
“Right-wing politicians dressed in business suits pulling down good salaries with government-financed health insurance … use every budget impasse as an opportunity to ‘reform entitlements.’ … What they really mean is they’re going to cut benefits for Social Security—it’s as…
The real reason behind Social Security’s problems
In spite of reports you might read in the media, Social Security’s funding challenges aren’t caused by people living longer, the way the federal programs’ Trust Fund is invested or by the nation’s large public debt. The real reason for the…
A Family In Need: Disability of 2-year-old raises questions on federal aid programs
In her coat, Maziah Mills-Sorrells looks like any other 2-year-old, an animated sprite, all bounce and spirit. But when Maziah’s mother, Essie Mills, took the child’s coat off in front of their apartment, Maziah’s left arm dropped lifelessly, her hand scraping…
Al’s Emporium: Have Another COLA!
Whatever will retirees do with the extra $19 a month the Social Security Administration sends their way starting next year? It isn’t enough to pay their monthly cable bills. It isn’t enough to play in a bowling league. It isn’t even…
Social Security Serves Those Who’ve Served
On November 11, we honor our nation’s veterans for their service to America. What better time than now to tell you – and for you to help spread the word – about the many benefits and wealth of information that…
Federal Budget Deficit Forecast To Surge As Baby Boomers Retire
You might not know it given the uproar over the debt limit and the government shutdown, but the federal deficit has been falling. Fast. So fast, in fact, that some analysts think that lower spending is hurting economic growth. However, the drop…
Can expanding Social Security solve the retirement crisis?
I asked a financial services executive recently how our retirement saving system can be considered a success, considering that all but the highest-income households are approaching retirement with next to nothing saved. His reply: “They don’t have any money while they’re…
Social Security benefits up only 1.5% in ’14
Social Security benefits will rise only 1.5% next year, one of the smallest increases ever in the program’s annual cost-of-living adjustment. The increase is down from the 1.7% increase for 2013. There was no cost-of-living increase at all in 2010 and…
Social Security COLA for 2014 Will be Announced Today
Halloween may come a little early for senior citizens, but hopefully it will be an early Christmas. The Consumer Price Index for September is due to be released today at 8:30 a.m. by the Department of Labor Statistics. It is…