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Social Security Means $6 Billion-Plus a Year for West Virginians
At the ripe old age of 79, Social Security is helping West Virginia residents and the economy. While pensions have changed, jobs have been lost and homes have lost equity, a quarter of folks in the state rely on Social Security…
Advocate-NorthShore merger continues trend toward regional supersystems
The merger between Advocate Health Care and NorthShore University HealthSystem that would create a $7 billion academic-suburban behemoth reinforces the growing national trend of large, financially stable healthcare organizations realigning as regional mega-systems. Advocate and NorthShore executives, echoing their colleagues around the country,…
SSDI: A Program Subject to Abuse
A new report from the Office of Inspector General at the Social Security Administration identifies the degree to which the agency does or does not have the systems, infrastructure or policies in place to stop the growing abuse that is taking…
Health care is often the biggest expense in retirement — and the hardest to predict
As the youngest of the baby boomers celebrate their 50th birthdays this year, many will put renewed attention on what will likely be the biggest expense in retirement: their health. Still the responsibility of caring for retirees — as well as the cost…
Michele Singletary: Keep tabs on Social Security
It used to be that a few months before each birthday, you would get a statement from the Social Security Administration with your estimated benefit if you elected to take it early, at 62, at your full retirement age (it’s…
Ambulatory surgery centers can be risky for older patients
In the wake of the surgery-related death of comedian Joan Rivers,patient-safety leaders and some physicians are calling on outpatient surgery centers to carefully select elderly patients eligible for surgery and encouraging patients to question the qualifications of physicians performing the procedures. Surgery…
Your Money: Mitigating retirement risks
A large part of my job as a financial adviser is to help make investors aware of risks and how to protect themselves from these risks. As investors enter retirement, they face a significant set of risks. I thought I…
Social Security: The Forgotten Crisis
In President Obama’s first term, Republicans made a lot of hay by pointing out that our entitlement programs are on an unsustainable path, and that argument was supported by the Simpson-Bowles bipartisan commission to fix the long-term deficit. In Obama’s…
Sen. Johnson’s missing solution for Social Security
Sen. Ron Johnson recently took time out of his busy schedule to meet with the editorial board of the Sheboygan Press, and while his main focus during his visit to the area was to talk about the threat posed by…
Social Security: The Wedding Gift Older Newlyweds Shouldn’t Pass Up
Social Security’s origins hark back to a time when many families had a single wage-earner, and the rules covering spousal benefits still largely reflect that family structure. As with any set of rules, though, those who don’t neatly fit into…