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US Govt Confiscating Tax Refunds Over Parents’ Old Debts
Before earmarking anticipated federal tax refunds this year, Americans should first make sure that any deceased parents were debt-free before their passing. According to a report in The Washington Post, the government has confiscated the refunds of hundreds of thousands of taxpayers over…
Some reasonable Social Security reforms
Under current law, Social Security’s trust fund will run dry by the late 2030s. This doesn’t make Social Security a Ponzi scheme, and it doesn’t mean young workers will get no (or even dramatically reduced) benefits. But it does mean that we face a…
Kiplinger Personal Finance Disability Benefits on a Fast Track
It used to be that some people with serious disabilities would die before the Social Security Administration finally got around to reviewing their applications for disability benefits. Today, applicants with one of 225 of the severest medical conditions can win approval within…
Tax day approaching: What you need to know before filing
Procrastinators beware: The deadline to file either your income tax return or an extension is Tuesday, but many local tax preparers will have special extended hours to accommodate the last-minute crowds. “There are two seasons in the tax season: The early…
Veterans Corner: VA removes annual income reporting requirements
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is eliminating the annual requirement for most veterans enrolled in VA’s health care system to report income information beginning in March 2014. Instead, VA will automatically match income information obtained from the Internal Revenue…
New generation preparing to fight for America’s future
The future of America depends on “millennials” — people born after 1980 — working together to undo the damage wrought by baby boomers on the nation’s economy, finances and foreign policy, according to a new book by Schererville native Pete Seat. Seat’s…
Are You Considering Retirement Abroad? What You Need to Know
Are you encountering clients thinking of retiring abroad? It’s a growing trend: the number of retirees, spouses and widows receiving Social Security benefit payments outside the U.S. rose 26 percent to 542,451 between 2006 and 2012, according to the Social…
Secondary Conditions Worsen Disability
A person with a disability often has more to deal with than just his or her disability. According to a study in an American Journal of Public Health and involving 2075 respondents from the state of Washington, 87 percent of adults…
RETIREMENT PLANNING: Points about long-term care
Do you have an understanding of the 12 or so risks we all will face in retirement? Inflation risk, longevity risk, lifestyle risk, entitlement risk, market risk, tax risk, excess withdrawal risk, sequence of returns risk, asset allocation risk, personal…
April 13, 1935: Social Security
President Roosevelt declared flatly for passage of old-age pension and unemployment insurance legislation during this session of Congress at the White House press conference Friday and opposed strongly suggestions to amend the bill in order to place the entire cost…