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Reminder: Social Security Tax Changes for 2015
Based on the increase in average wages in the United States, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (called the “taxable maximum”) increases from $117,000 to $118,500, effective January 1, 2015. According to the Social Security…
#3 Editor’s Choice Award: Why and How Should We Build a Basic Income for Every Citizen?
What are our goals as a species? This, to me, is the most important question we can ask ourselves as human beings. Another way to say it: What is the meaning of our existence as a species? We never seem…
How to Invest After You Retire
You just turned 66, had a blast at the office party in your honor, said goodbye to the water-cooler crowd and are heading toward that great unknown called retirement. But now you’ve got a bad case of the willies. You’re…
GAO: Public SSDI claim help mostly a mystery
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has no good way to track how state and local agencies are using outside Social Security claim advocates to help people apply for SSA benefits. Investigators at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), an arm of…
New Poll by The Senior Citizens League Shows Social Security Recipients Think Government Manipulates CPI Data
People who receive Social Security benefits overwhelmingly think the federal government is manipulating consumer price index (CPI) data, according to a new poll by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). When asked, “Do you believe the government is manipulating the CPI…
6 ways to make your retirement funds live longer
Planning for retirement these days can be daunting, as people are living longer, healthier lives. According to the Social Security Administration, 65-year-old baby boomers can expect to live to the age of 84.3 years old if they’re men and 86.6…
Gov. Quinn signs retirement savings bill
Gov. Pat Quinn said a bill he signed Sunday will give 2.5 million workers in Illinois a new way to save for retirement without relying on Social Security alone. The Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program, established by the bill, creates a…
Hospitals Feeling Pinch from Reduced Medicare Payments
Financial penalties for hospitals under the Affordable Care Act are making themselves felt locally and nationwide. Hospitals whose rate is judged too high for hospital-acquired conditions or presumably preventable conditions — such as infections patients acquire in the hospital — get…
Ongoing slowdown of U.S. health care cost increases may not be sustainable
U.S. health care spending grew 3.6% in 2013, capping a five-year stretch of historically low growth, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in December. That’s good news for health care payers, but is the slowdown — which was the…
Astrue Doesn’t Think Much Of OPM’s Screening Of SES Candidates
Former Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue doesn’t think much of the job that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) does in screening applicants for top level jobs in the Senior Executive Service (SES). Here are some quotes from a recent…