On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee held a hearing on the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset, two provisions that arbitrarily reduce the earned Social Security benefits of millions of public employees. They were enacted in 1983 in an attempt to bring fairness to the system for those who receive government pensions and earn Social Security benefits, but they have not worked as intended..Here's a hypothetical example: Let's say that you shop at the same grocery store every week. The price of navel oranges varies by the time of year, but in December of 2018 you were able to buy navel oranges for about .39 a pound. By June of 2019, however, the price goes up to .4That's a difference of $.10 a pound and a 7% jump in cost. That's price inflation..According to Rep. Valadao, approximately 13 million Americans experienced some form of identity theft in 2014, resulting in a loss of billion. Upon introducing it, he said: "The fact that this crime affects children, seniors, and veterans makes it even more imperative that the federal government does everything in its power to prevent identity theft.".Economic forecasts for 2013 warn of a financial crisis ahead. Nobody is feeling it more acutely than seniors living on fixed incomes. Retirees and disabled adults won't see much of a cost-of-living adjustment increase in benefits this year. At 1.7%, the 2013 is one of the lowest ever paid, not counting 2010 and 2011 when no COLA was payable at all. Timing couldn't be worse..New legislation retroactively extends several tax breaks that affect the amount you may deduct in unreimbursed medical expenses. The lower threshold for itemized medical expense deduction was one of the breaks extended. The threshold under the 2017 tax law was originally scheduled to rise from the excess of 7.5% of adjusted gross income to 10% of AGI for the 2019 tax year. But new legislation extended the 7.5% AGI level..COLAs are calculated using the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners. This simply does not make sense for seniors. This method of calculation considers spending habits of younger workers who are more likely to spend their dollars on electronic devices and consumer goods. Seniors are more likely to spend money on medical services and housing expenses. The prices of these items rise significantly higher than what the CPI-W calculates.."The new aspect of this study of memory loss in the elderly is that it examines silent strokes and hippocampal shrinkage simultaneously," said study author Adam M. Brickman, PhD, of the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain at Columbia University Medical Center in New York..The Social Security Notch is the unexpectedly steep drop in benefits that affects people born from 1917 through 192This generation of seniors receives lower benefits than other seniors who had nearly identical work and earnings histories..Before making such a major decision, we strongly recommend that you get free, one-on-one counseling from your State Health Insurance Program Medicare Counselor. Your counselor can help you compare plans to ensure that the choice you're considering is right for you. Many local area agencies on aging or senior centers host counseling programs.
