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It makes no difference if a Member of Congress has broken the law. This newsletter recently reported that former Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who was sentenced to eight years in jail for bribery charges, is entitled to an annual pension of about ,000. Currently, it takes an act of treason for a Member of the House or Senate to lose a pension..The Super Committee failed to come to agreement last week, resulting in a mandated sequestration of cuts in defense and domestic spending. The sequester was intended to urge lawmakers on the committee to come to an agreement, however the stalemate will result in automatic 1.2 trillion dollar budget cuts over the next decade..If you are leaning towards refinancing your home, look carefully into the closing fees. Will you be paying any closing costs out-of-pocket or will those costs get rolled into the loan? How would that affect monthly payments?Based on your credit profile, what interest rate do you actually qualify for, and how does that compare with what you are currently paying?.TSCL Supports New Bill.In short, the Social Security disability trust fund would become insolvent by mid-2021 and the retirement trust fund would become permanently depleted by 2023, just two short years from now..Last week the CDC announced that the COVID-19 pandemic pushed total U.S. deaths in 2020 beyond 3.3 million, the nation's highest annual death toll..Now Medicare Part A is projected to again become insolvent, perhaps by 202Policy experts are proposing that the revenues raised by the 3.8% net investment income tax should be "re-directed" to the Part A Trust fund rather than the federal government general revenue..For details, or to see if your Members of Congress will be holding town hall meetings before the November elections, call their local offices. You can find contact information HERE. For more sample town hall questions, click HERE..Disabled survivors benefits for a spouse and/or divorced spouse based on the deceased account.

Redistricting Census And Redistricting Profiles

By Mike Watson, TSCL Legislative Assistant.When the COLA does not accurately or adequately reflect the costs that retired and disabled people actually have, the buying power of Social Security benefits erodes over time. A study by TSCL has found that Social Security benefits have lost 30 percent of their buying power since 2000..If you plan to cash out your home equity, it's important to have a very clear idea of how that money will be used and how it would benefit your retirement plan. For example, refinancing to do repairs and make improvements that add value and safety to your home benefit your retirement plan. Taking money out for a vacation or to support adult children doesn't offer any financial benefit to your retirement. … Continued

Patient Education Preparing For Your Hysterectomy Preparations

may tend to lower your tax bill later, by reducing the required minimum distribution amount that you must take in order to avoid tax penalties after age 70 ½. Large required minimum distributions could also trigger taxes on up to 85% of your Social Security benefits in addition to a surcharge on your Medicare Part B and Part D premiums..The big news at the end of last week was President Trumps four executive orders that are supposed to lower prescription drug prices. Lowering those prices was something he campaigned on in 2016 and has talked about since, but this is the first time he has taken action..This week, Senator John McCain introduced the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act, which would allow individuals to import prescription drugs from approved pharmacies in Canada. Upon introducing the bill, Senator McCain stated: "This legislation would allow individuals to safely import prescription drugs into the United States from our neighbors to the north, spur much-needed competition in the pharmaceutical market, and save individual Americans up to hundreds of dollars a year." TSCL supports S. 122 enthusiastically, and we look forward to helping build support for it this year. … Continued