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Social Security to resume benefits statement mailings
Paper Social Security benefits statements, which used to be mailed out every year and then fell victim to budget cuts, are going to make a partial comeback. Starting this September, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will resume mailings at five-year intervals…
Social Security Benefits From Your Ex
“I don’t think it is right for longtime divorcées to receive the windfall of a widow’s benefit,” writes a reader. “Social Security could save some money there.” She’s referring to your right to tap into your ex-spouse’s survivor’s benefit if you…
Generational equity and the ‘Next America’
In the week since we published The Next America data essay, a few critics have portrayed our report as an effort to foment a “generational war” over Social Security and Medicare. Let me respond. While the essay (and companion book) is mainly about the sweeping demographic changes now…
Frequently asked questions about Medicare
Since 1966, residents 65 or older have been able to sign up for Medicare, the federal government’s health plan for seniors. But there are now private plans available, as well as a drug plan, giving people more options — but also…
Medicare payment data opens a whole new avenue for political attacks.
I can’t think of any other American industry that has undergone as many sweeping competitive and regulatory changes in such a short time as health care. But one change – the release of data on Medicare payments made to health…
Does the Social Security Trust Fund Really Exist?
In a memorable scene from the classic sitcom “Sanford and Son,” a legal predicament led Fred Sanford to consider hiring a man who was peddling cut-rate attorney services. When Sanford and the man met, the conversation that ensued went something…
Dr. Anil Kumar Files Paperwork for Congress Bid in Michigan
Dr. Anil Kumar, who told India-West last December that he would run for Congress in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District in suburban Detroit (I-W, Dec. 27), officially filed his paperwork and submitted the required signatures to run April 11. “I’m running…
Democrats Confront Vexing Politics Over the Health Care Law
When Franklin D. Roosevelt established Social Security, he created generations of loyal Democrats. When Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare into law, he built on that legacy, particularly with older Americans. And when George W. Bush instituted a new prescription drug…
Stress-test your retirement portfolio
Before we start to rely on something, we often want to see how it will react under stress—be it a bridge, or a baby stroller, or a space rocket. Well, the same can be said about retirement portfolios. We should be…
New policy ensures retirement savings plan if disabled
One in four 20-year-olds will become disabled before they retire, according to the Council for Disability Awareness. When that happens, people immediately look at the impact it will have on their job and their paycheck. But what about their retirement?According…