Latest News
U.S. retirement system drops in global rating
The Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Indexed just released its ranking of global retirement systems for this year. The U.S. system came in 29th out of 48 countries, with its overall score dipping to 60.4 out of 100, below the…
Make sure you do not make these mistakes
As of 2024, more than 71 million Americans receive Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments. Approximately 86 percent of the population aged 65 and over receive these benefits. However, most do not realize that some specific actions…
Columbus Day Holiday
The staff at Social Security Report are off today for the federal holiday, Columbus Day.
Medicare Advantage star ratings
CMS continues to implement enhancements to the MA and Part D Star Ratings program to promote continual quality improvement to help ensure that Medicare enrollees receive high-quality care and to encourage plans to continue to strive for higher quality. With…
Changes coming to your Part D plan in 2025
The 2025 Medicare open enrollment period for Medicare Advantage and Part D plans is from October 15, 2024, to December 7, 2024. Medicare enrollees can choose or make changes to their Medicare Advantage plan and Medicare Part D prescription drug…
COLA Announced – Reactions Now Taking Center Stage
Yesterday’s official announcement of a 2.5% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment arrived as expected, along with the also-expected commentary on the inadequacy of the benefit increase. Calling the 2.5% bump a “lost opportunity,” The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) executive director Shannon…
Why is Social Security an “off budget” program?
Social Security as well as a few other programs are excluded from the unified budget. Lawmakers devised this special accounting to wall off these programs. This gives them the ability to act with autonomy. This article from the TPC Briefing…
Federal Employee Viewpoint Surveys show Encouraging Results for the Social Security Administration
Increased participation in taking the 2024 FEVS and increases in some areas show improvements in employee views of the agency. Drew Freidman for Federal News Network explains here… Notice: The link provided above connects readers to the full content of the posted…
COLA’s not Keeping Up with Increasing Costs
Since 2000, Social Security recipients have lost 36% of their buying power. Part of the reason is the way the COLA increases are calculated. The calculation is based on the spending habits of urban wage earners and clerical workers. Still,…
Importance of Checking your History of Paying into Social Security
Your earnings statement is available when you set up an account at ssa.gov. It’s important to check it periodically, looking for accuracy. Failing to do so could result in a lower benefit than you should be receiving. Your employer is…