Free Republic

A fast-growing number of seniors are hitting retirement with a student debt burden. Even their Social Security is at risk Most debt you can get out of—painful as it might be. Credit card debt can be cleared in bankruptcy. A mortgage can end in foreclosure. But student debt is more sticky, and it turns out it can have big consequences in retirement. Last year, Richard Minuti’s Social Security payments were cut by 10%. The Philadelphia native was already earning only a bit over $10,000 a year, including some part-time work as a tutor. “I was desperate,” says Minuti. “Taking 10%...

Two U.S. Senators have introduced the Retirement and Income Security (RAISE) Act. The bill would increase Social Security payments for divorced spouses, enhance benefits for widows and widowers, and extend eligibility for children of retired, disabled or deceased workers. The additional benefits included in the RAISE Act would be offset by the application of a 2% payroll tax rate on annual earnings over $400,000—an offset that means Social Security will continue to be fully funded, according to a news release by Senator Mark Begich (D-Arkansas), who introduced the bill along with Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington). “The RAISE Act would ensure...

A year ago, this organization warned that the Bush Administration was planning to do something unthinkable - they were seriously considering signing a pact with Mexico that would give any Mexican who had worked in the U.S., including illegal aliens, full U.S. Social Security benefits, paid out of your Social Security Trust Fund! It seemed so far fetched, we had trouble convincing the Congress that it could happen. A White House spokesman denied our claim that it was on a fast track, stating the ongoing discussions for Totalization were just informal and preliminary. But we knew better. We had obtained...