Articles
- Social Security Benefits Lose 33% of Buying Power Between October of 2018, and January 2019, consumer prices fell according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. On January 1, 2019, Social Security beneficiaries received a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of 2.8%. Theoretically, the combination of higher benefits, and lower prices, should translate into more money for retirees in the short term. But according ...
- Failing to Lift Debt Limit Would Be “Disastrous” For Social Security and Medicare The federal government shutdown that occurred from midnight December 22, 2018, until January 25, 2019, was the longest in U.S. history. It was so disruptive that an analysis from Standard and Poor’s (S & P) estimated that the shut down cost the U.S. economy $3.6 billion. While the government shutdown was terrible for all affected, ...
- Higher Taxation of Social Security Among Options to Reduce the Deficit The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently reviewed a proposal that would boost the taxable amount of Social Security benefits, as one of the options for Congress to consider to reduce the federal deficit. The proposal, which the CBO has reviewed in prior versions of its Options to Reduce the Deficit, would tax Social Security and ...
- 67% of Older Americans Support Eliminating Social Security’s Waiting Periods More than 10,000 people died waiting for a disability decision from the Social Security Administration in 2017. The rising death toll coincides with the growing backlog of people awaiting a decision about their eligibility for Social Security disability insurance benefits. But even after a disabled individual has been found eligible, he or she must wait ...
- Can We Depend On the Social Security Trust Fund? Mary Johnson, editor Since enactment 84 years ago, Social Security has been the most reliable source of retirement income that most retirees have. That said, our current Social Security program has a funding imbalance that’s creeping forward. In 2018 the Congressional Budget Office reported that Social Security’s total benefit costs exceeded its total income, including (for ...
- Social Security and Medicare Blamed for Rising Deficits Are Cuts The Only Way to Reduce the Deficit? After passing new tax legislation that’s projected to increase the federal deficit by more than $1.5 trillion over the next ten years, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (KY) recently blamed Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid for the rapidly increasing deficit. McConnell said the only way to ...
- What the Social Security Trust Fund is Missing From Top Paid CEOs In the debate over Social Security’s long-term finances, some argue that the program is unsustainable because it is paying out more in benefits than it takes in. They say that benefits, including cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), should be reduced to bring the program back into balance. Others say that the program is unsustainable because revenues need ...
- Benefit Bulletin: September 2018 Waiting Periods Can Bankrupt Disabled Beneficiaries More than 920,000 Americans await hearings that will determine their eligibility for Social Security disability insurance benefits (SSDI). The process is a long one, taking on average about 20 months — longer than some applicants may live. Unlike Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which is a low-income disability program, SSDI is ...
- More Than 70% Of Retirees Didn’t Know What To Expect In Lifetime Social Security Income When They Claimed Benefits By Mary Johnson, editor It’s hard to plan your optimal retirement age without a realistic idea of what to expect in lifetime Social Security income. Yet, according TSCL’s 2017 Senior Survey, 71% of survey participants said that’s exactly the situation they were in when they filed a claim for Social Security benefits. They did not know, ...
- 18% Of Workers Pay No Social Security Taxes On Earnings Over $128,400 Most working people pay Social Security taxes on every dollar earned and many pay more in Social Security taxes than in federal income taxes. Yet nearly one out of five workers — some 18% — pay no Social Security taxes on any earnings over the Social Security taxable maximum — which is $128,400 in 2018. According ...
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