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Retirement savings: 3% is the new 4%
It’s all relative. How much retirees can safely withdraw from their retirement account each year is a mostly a function of current stock values and interest rates, which tend to predict near-term returns. And when stock market valuations are well…
Analysis: Dog of year in Congress whimpers to end
Barring uncharacteristically swift work by Congress, more than a million victims of the recession will lose long-term unemployment benefits over the holidays, the price of milk could shoot up in late winter and government payments might fall sharply for doctors…
Social Security advocate Richtman applauds Ohio Sen. Brown for senior support
On a cold and snowy Friday in Columbus, Ohio, seniors gathered at the Marin Janis Senior Center to hear U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown and Max Richtman, a nationally known advocate for the defense and protection of Social Security and Medicare, talk about their efforts, and how seniors…
Year-end tax planning important for upper income households
A year ago, it was difficult for taxpayers to do last-minute tax planning because of uncertainty surrounding expiring tax breaks from the Bush era. Lawmakers were at loggerheads on which, if any, deductions and credits to keep and whether to let…
Proposed Social Security cost-of-living adjustment won’t cover living costs, seniors say
Groups supporting senior citizens rallied at the Kluczynski Federal Building Thursday against a proposal introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday that would change the way cost-of-living increases are calculated for seniors. The new calculation would use a measurement…
Medicare registration deadline Saturday, December 7th
If you need to sign up Medicare, and haven’t time is running out. The registration deadline is Saturday, December 7 at midnight.Registration is for Medicare Parts C and D. Medicare Part C provides health care coverage and usually includes Medicare Part D, which is…
GOP bill would reduce federal retiree benefits to offset defense cuts
Two Republican lawmakers have introduced a proposal that would require federal employees to contribute more of their salary toward retiree benefits in order to offset deep cuts to the Defense Department. The “Provide for the Common Defense Act,” introduced by Reps.…
House, Senate SGR Markups Possible Next Week
Next week is likely to be one of the busiest weeks in quite a while in Congress on a health care issue that does not directly involve the Affordable Care Act. The Senate Finance Committee Dec. 12 is scheduled to…
Permanent ‘doc fix’ unlikely this year
Lawmakers have all but given up on efforts to permanently replace the Medicare physician payment formula this year and have refocused their effort on getting it done in 2014. Both the Senate Finance and the House Ways and Means committees are…
Medicare patients will get a financial break in 2014
Medicare beneficiaries got some good news this fall, when government officials announced that the Part B monthly premium and annual deductible would remain flat for 2014. The cost picture is more complicated when it comes to other parts of Medicare, however,…