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Spring into stress-free retirement
April has arrived, and spring is here. As we say “goodbye” to winter weather hardships and “hello” to gardens budding with vibrant color, we welcome the season by celebrating Stress Awareness Month. Did you know that stress, also called the “silent…
Expanded Hospice Improved Care But Raised Medicare Costs
A large study examined the impact of growth in Medicare’s hospice benefit among nursing home residents between 2004 and 2009 and found improvement in indicators of care quality, such as less reliance on intensive care and feeding tubes, but that…
Social Security Will Not Cut Off Your Checks
According to their 2014 Trustees Report, the Trust Funds that support Social Security are expected to run out of cash around 2033. If that happens, Social Security will be unable to make payments that are both timely and complete. Despite those…
Bamboozled: Seniors tied up in red tape as Social Security denies refund of Medicare premiums
Sometimes problems have very simple solutions, but it’s infuriating when red tape and bloated bureaucracies can’t find the easy fix. We’re talking about Social Security and Medicare. When a senior qualifies for Medicare, the cost of premiums depends on a beneficiary’s income.…
Here’s How Much the Typical American Should Save for Retirement
One of the most important financial questions most of us face in our lives is how much to save for retirement. Is $250,000 enough? What about $500,000? Or should we strive for something higher — say, $1 million? While your answer will…
Fiscal train wreck
Tackle America’s retirement problem, or risk the rise of the Islamic State. That stark choice is the direst consequence of Washington’s fiscal mess, sketched by Bruce Josten, top lobbyist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. For several years, Josten has pressed the…
5 Reasons Millennials May Struggle to Retire on Their Own Terms
The Great Recession certainly did a number on Baby Boomers. With the market hitting new highs in 2007, right when baby boomers were getting ready to hang up their coats and gloves for good, the floor fell out from underneath…
EXPERTS: SOCIAL SECURITY FORECASTS MISCALCULATED BY OVER $1 TRILLION
According to new data compiled by researchers from Harvard and Dartmouth universities, the Social Security Administration’s actuarial projections over the last 15 years have been overly optimistic about the health of the program’s trust funds and missed the mark by over…
Making the nest egg last
Just one in five retirement-age Americans is able to pass a basic test on how to make a nest egg last through retirement, if the results of a recent survey are any indication. For example, the “4 percent rule” – considered…
3 Smart Ways to Get Bigger Social Security Benefits
Maximizing the size of your Social Security benefits can spell the difference between a comfortable retirement and one spent scrimping and saving just to get by. Given how important Social Security is to millions of retirees’ financial security, here are…