Refinance and renovate. If you find your current mortgage payment is too high, refinancing to get either a lower monthly payment or to take cash out may be an option. Before you refinance, have a long–term repayment plan, a budget, and you may want to discuss your needs with an independent financial advisor. If you are refinancing to renovate an older home, think long and hard about how much longer you plan to stay in your home, and how well your current housing will serve you as your health changes. Get bids from contractors, and be sure to include costs for new appliances, carpets, and fixtures. Will you have sufficient income and savings to cover a mortgage payment and still have money for repairs and maintenance ten or twenty years from now? Can you recover your renovation investment if you have to move and sell sooner than you planned? Take time to shop and carefully compare terms on loans - don't be hurried into making a decision. Loan officers always push you to "lock in a rate." Always ask for a "good faith" estimate and an estimate of the closing costs..This week, TSCL formally announced its support for Rep. Tim Walberg's Social Security and Medicare Lock-Box Act. If signed into law, the bill would safeguard the Social Security and Medicare Part A Trust Funds and prevent lawmakers from using the monies for unrelated purposes. In addition, it would establish a commission to determine alternate forms of investment for the surplus funds..According to the Washington Post, a new report warns that regularly eating fried foods - french fries, fried chicken, and the like - ups your chance of having a major cardiovascular problem, such as a heart attack or stroke, by 28 percent..On Tuesday, the Senate Special Aging Committee held a hearing titled "Changing the Trajectory of Alzheimer's: Reducing Risk, Detecting Early Symptoms, and Improving Data." Those on the Aging Committee heard from experts as well as individuals who have personal experience with the disease, including award-winning actor Marcia Gay Harden..Social Security Benefits for Noncitizens, Congressional Research Service, February 1, 2008..TSCL believes that in the lame-duck session following the November elections, Congress must prioritize the passage of legislation that would make the Social Security COLA more fair and accurate. In the weeks ahead, our legislative team will continue to advocate for the CPI-E Act, as well as for legislation like the SAVE Benefits Act, which would make up for this year's zero COLA with a one-time emergency 3.9 percent increase. For progress updates, follow TSCL on Twitter or Facebook..If you own stocks in a retirement account, make sure the company holding your.Drug prices in the U.S. are much higher than in other developed countries, because there are no federal laws regulating prices. In fact, the law specifically forbids Medicare from negotiating prices on behalf of its beneficiaries. Allowing the importation of prescription drugs from countries such as Canada, where drugs are less expensive, has the potential to lower drug costs for both U.S. consumers and the federal government..The following Members of Congress, among many others, will be holding town hall meetings next week: Sen. Jerry Moran, Sen. Ron Wyden, Rep. Karen Bass, Rep. Diana DeGette, Rep. Scott Perry, Rep. Xavier Becerra, Rep. Thomas Massie, Rep. Tom McClintock, Rep. Chris Stewart, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, and Rep. Tom Emmer.
