Pay off an existing mortgage. When you make additional principal payments on an outstanding mortgage balance, the lower balance will save you interest expense. If you have an amortized fixed-rate mortgage, the monthly amount of the payment doesn't change. With the additional principal payments the loan balance declines and more of your monthly payment goes toward the repayment of principal. You will repay the loan faster than the stated loan term on your contract. You can find mortgage calculators online, to help you determine how extra principal payments reduce your mortgage interest expense and the remaining loan term. When considering pre-paying your mortgage, consider the rates of return. If you were to save the extra cash in a savings account or CD, your rate of return currently is quite low and prepaying your mortgage may give you a better return based on the interest rate of your loan. Financial advisors, however, generally recommend that you pay off your mortgage out of income, and not cash from your retirement accounts. Your retirement accounts provide you with a savings cushion, that most seniors will need later in retirement, and they are protected from creditors..Cutting Benefits for Current Retirees or Any Americans Over Age 50: Many current retirees are already struggling financially, and people need adequate time to plan and prepare for changes to something as important as Social Security..Among the documents released to TSCL was a statement by Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, that says, "Social Security actuaries have estimated that a Totalization Agreement with Mexico would have negligible long-range costs for the Social Security Trust FundsЕ Costs to the U.S. Social Security system are estimated to average about 0 million per year over the first five years.".TSCL is highly concerned about the Totalization Agreement since it would likely add billions in costs to Social Security and drain Social Security benefits from American citizens who retire in the future. The Agreement would also increase exponentially the number of foreign workers claiming Social Security benefits. Social Security law currently allows non-citizens, who at some point obtain work authorization and a valid Social Security number, to claim benefits. Under current policy, Social Security uses all earnings regardless of a workers' legal status at the time the work was performed, to determine entitlement to benefits - including earnings while working illegally in the U.S. Such work could have been done while using an invalid or even fraudulent Social Security number. Several Members of Congress have introduced legislation that would prevent the Totalization Agreement from moving forward and that would give Congress more oversight over Totalization agreements with other nations. In addition, anti-Totalization legislation opposes Social Security benefits going to those who worked in the United States while illegal..A report about the memo, which was published in Politico, a Washington, D.C., based news service, also stated that the lawyer "and his office late last week instructed administration officials to seek guidance from the DOJ's public integrity section, which deals with election crimes, before moving forward with the drug-discount plan. That has further stalled the plan as the health department waits for DOJ review, said two officials.".Most Americans contribute 6.2 percent of every paycheck to Social Security, but due to the payroll tax cap, people earning more than 8,400 contribute nothing over that amount. Eliminating the payroll tax cap would extend the solvency of the program responsibly, without cutting benefits for seniors. Do you agree?.Also this week, seventeen new cosponsors signed on to Rep. Rodney Davis's Social Security Fairness Act, bringing the total up to thirty-eight. In addition, one new cosponsor signed on to Sen. Mark Begich's Social Security Fairness Act in the Senate, bringing the total to four. Both bills, if signed into law, would repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision two provisions that unfairly reduce the earned Social Security benefits of millions of teachers, firefighters, peace officers, and other state or local government employees each year. TSCL firmly believes that the GPO and the WEP should be repealed immediately so that dedicated public servants receive the retirement security they deserve. H.R. 1795 and S. 896 would do just that, and we were pleased to see eighteen new cosponsors announce their support this week..At their convention in July, delegates of the Republican Party approved a platform focused on reducing the national debt. Their document begins by stating: "We reject the old maxim that Social Security is the 'Third Rail' of American politics, deadly for anyone who would change it. The Democratic Party still treats it that way, even though everyone knows that its current course will lead to a financial and social disaster." The focal point of their plan is cutting government waste, encouraging economic growth, and balancing the budget even if that means making significant changes to programs like Social Security..Some of the most talked-about plans using a "chained" consumer price index to calculate annual cost-of-living adjustments, cutting the payroll tax, and reducing benefits for people who are currently retired or nearing retirement would devastate many of the most vulnerable seniors.
