The Social Security Administration announced today that the 2020 COLA will be just 1.6 percent, continuing the worrisome trend in which COLAs have averaged just 1.4 percent from 2000 to 20"Adequate COLAs are critical to retirement security," says Mary Johnson, a Social Security policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. "Social Security is one of the only types of retirement income that provides this essential protection against rising costs. "When a retiree's costs rise faster than their COLA, the buying power of Social Security benefits erodes, leaving people with a benefit that doesn't go as far as it did when they first retired," Johnson notes. According to research by Johnson, Social Security benefits have lost 33 percent of buying power since 2000..Drug and Health Plan Finders at : The only way to be sure you're getting unbiased information is to use the drug and health plan finders on the Medicare website, not from a dot com or even a dot org website, because most others receive income from ads, selling health plans or prescription drugs. Using the Drug and Health Plan Finders you can get an overview of the Part D and Medicare Advantage options in your area and estimated costs based on the prescriptions you take. Click on the Drug and Health Plan Finder link on the homepage and you will be taken to a page that will ask you a series of questions to get started. There's a Medicare Plan Finder online tutorial video to help show you what to do..Rep. Bill Huizinga pledged his support for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher's No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act last week. If passed, the bill would prevent illegal immigrants from receiving earned credit toward Social Security benefits. With the new co-sponsor, the total is now 69..This week, one House subcommittee met to discuss the Social Security benefits of public servants like teachers, police officers, and firefighters. In addition, The Senior Citizens League announced its support for one new bill..Under growing pressure to reduce the federal deficit, the prospect of major Social Security and Medicare cuts is the greatest it's been in almost three decades. The recent debt limit deal calls for a bipartisan committee that has until Thanksgiving to come up with a plan to cut the deficit by .2 trillion. TSCL believes that the committee would very likely include a change to a more slowly growing consumer price index that would cut annual-cost-of-living adjustments. There are also proposals that would require seniors to pay a bigger portion of their Medicare costs.."Doctors and experts say that improved medical tactics and earlier treatment are helping improve the outcomes for very sick patients, said Andrew Badley, head of Mayo Clinic's Covid Research Task Force..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..In addition, one new cosponsor Rep. Corrine Brown signed on to the Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act. The cosponsor total is now up to one hundred and forty-four. If signed into law, H.R. 1179 would amend current Medicare policy to count hospital stays under "observation status" towards the three-day requirement for skilled nursing care. Currently, those under "observation status" don't qualify for coverage of the benefit, and they are often hit with large, unexpected bills after receiving necessary medical care. TSCL believes the current policy is unfair, and we were glad to see support grow for H.R. 1179 this week..Every day, thousands of our neighbors and friends protect our cities, educate our students, and deliver vital services to our communities. While these selfless public servants have spent their lives giving back, our antiquated federal policies take away the benefits that these workers have rightly earned.
