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People frequently overestimate the amount of money they will receive from Social Security benefits. Lifespans are growing longer, and ideally you will want your savings to last over the length of your retirement that could be as much as 25 to 30 years long. At the same time life expectancy is rising, so are healthcare costs. If you talk to folks who have already retired, you will learn that almost 6-in-10 retirees will report that healthcare costs take one-fourth to one-third of their Social Security benefits..Even if Congress is not able to pass all the funding bills by the end of the fiscal year on September 30, we doubt there will be a government shutdown. It is most likely they will pass as many "continuing resolutions" as they need, as they have done in the past, to avoid a shutdown..case feels just as crummy..As we said earlier, the end of the federal government's 2020 fiscal year is fast approaching and unless Congress can pass new funding legislation before then, we face the possibility of another government shutdown. Last week the House of Representatives passed a four-bill fiscal 2021 spending package, advancing its first annual funding measure of the year. The legislation includes State and Foreign Operations, Agriculture-FDA, Interior-Environment, and Military Construction-VA funding..We should hope for our young adults, and workers from all walks of life, to aspire to serve their communities and become public servants. However, policies like the WEP and GPO only discourage our young people from becoming teachers, firefighters, and public health workers..Tell us what you think! It's time for the TSCL's 2019 Senior Survey. This is your opportunity to let us know what you think about major proposals affecting your benefits. Tell us how rising costs are affecting you. The answers to these questions help us inform journalists, the public, and Members of Congress on how older Americans are faring in retirement today. Your participation is helping to change the national dialogue on the adequacy of Social Security benefits, and throwing a spotlight on the growing problem of the ability of COLAs to maintain the buying power of your benefits..Social Security can be changed in two ways - but benefit cuts don't have to be inevitable. Increasing payroll taxes is the other avenue..In contrast, the Social Security benefits of American workers, are not guaranteed by law. In the Supreme Court decision, Fleming vs. Nestor, the court found that Congress can make adjustments when conditions of the Social Security systems demand and that American workers who have paid their employment taxes have no legal recourse to any of the money deposited in the Social Security Trust Fund..The bill would provide legal status and a path to citizenship to young people who were brought to the United States illegally as children. Under the bill, generally, children brought to the U.S. before age 16, have been in the country continually for at least five years and who complete two years of college or military service in good standing would qualify.