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VA benefits set to slightly increase in 2014
When veterans and their families, who receive disability compensation and retirement benefits from the Veterans Affairs Department, receive their annual cost-of-living increase next month, for the first time ever, it won’t be rounded down to the nearest dollar. Overall, the COLA…
You Can’t Fix Income Inequality Without Fixing Unemployment
President Obama’s speech today on income inequality was long and eloquent, but if I could boil it down to a one-sentence summary, it would be this: Large-scale efforts to protect the economy’s neediest have a triumphant history in America. Jump back…
Millennials may not be able to afford retirement essentials
While many Americans are falling short on savings, millennials are most at risk of being unable to afford essential retirement expenses — such as food, shelter and medical care, according to a Fidelity Investments survey released Wednesday. Fidelity found that about…
LA Times: Explaining the ‘mystery’ of where all the disabled are
The apparent explosion in Social Security disability claimants in recent years has provided endless fodder for critics of the program. Their favored explanation is that the growth in the ranks of the disabled, from 250,000 new claimants a year in…
10,982,920: The Number of Americans Receiving Disability …
The Number of American citizens who receive disability benefits reached a record high in November. According to newly released data from the Social Security Administration, there are now 10,982,920 disability beneficiaries. If all of these individuals lived in a single state, it…
Retirement: Appealing a Medicare claim
There are steps you can take before going through the task of appealing the denial of a Medicare claim. First, talk with the doctor, hospital and Medicare to see if you can spot the problem and get the claim resubmitted.…
New GOP Plan Would Save Military From Sequestration
A pair of House Republicans have a new bill that would spare the military from sequestration by cutting the Social Security benefits of many Americans who already experience painful federal budget cuts. Reps. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.) and Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) are…
5 Steps to Consider if You Can’t Afford to Retire
Many baby boomers are approaching retirement, but that doesn’t mean they are financially prepared. “There is no doubt there’s a retirement crisis,” says Christopher McIntire, president of McIntire Retirement Services. “People have not saved enough.” Social Security can help boomers make ends…
New bill aims to cancel sequestration for DoD at cost to feds’ pay and benefits
A new bill would cancel sequestration entirely for the Defense Department and a handful other security-related agencies in fiscal 2014 and 2015 by requiring federal employees to contribute more of their salary toward their pensions, trimming Medicare payments and agricultural…
The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company Launches Social Security Explorer
The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, a more than 166-year-old company is pleased to announce that Social Security Explorer, a comprehensive tool designed to help maximize social security benefits, is now available for Penn Mutual affiliated financial professionals to use…