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We are on the cusp of a retirement crisis that will affect everyone. Far too many promises have been made and the demographics we face do not bode well for a bright future. The answer that some people tout is we should have more children or open the borders. This is based on the idea we need more workers and ignores many other factors feeding into this issue. There is simply no way “more children” or workers can ever pay enough into the system to fulfill the promises that have been made. The competition for programs from the government to...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of a Senate panel that oversees Medicare says the Biden administration should use its legal authority to cut back a hefty premium increase soon hitting millions of enrollees, as a growing number of Democratic lawmakers call for action amid worries over rising inflation. Last month, Medicare announced one of the largest increases ever in its “Part B” monthly premium for outpatient care, nearly $22, from $148.50 currently to $170.10 starting in January. The agency attributed roughly half the hike, about $11 a month, to the need for a contingency fund to cover Aduhelm, a new...

Key PointsSocial Security provides a periodic cost of living adjustment.Seniors will see their benefits increase by 5.9% in 2022.The rising costs of five necessities could mean the COLA may not provide much extra buying power.Social Security benefit checks will be much larger next year for retirees. Seniors receiving retirement benefits are entitled to annual cost of living adjustments (COLAs) to help maintain their buying power. The 2022 COLA will provide older Americans with a 5.9% benefit increase.While this may seem like a lot of extra money, the sad reality is that rising prices in some key areas are likely to...

Millions of retirees on Social Security will get a 5.9% boost in benefits for 2022. The biggest cost-of-living adjustment in 39 years follows a burst in inflation as the economy struggles to shake off the drag of the coronavirus pandemic. The COLA, as it's commonly called, amounts to $92 a month for the average retired worker, according to estimates released Wednesday by the Social Security Administration. That marks an abrupt break from a long lull in inflation that saw cost-of-living adjustments averaging just 1.65% a year over the past 10 years. With the increase, the estimated average Social Security payment...

Seniors and other Americans receiving Social Security benefits in 2022 will see the largest increase in their payments in four decades, reflecting surging inflation during the pandemic. Next year’s cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, will be 5.9%, the Social Security Administration said Wednesday. The increase will translate to an addition of $92 to retirees’ average monthly benefit next year, bringing the amount to $1,657. The nearly 6% cost-of-living adjustment is the largest since 1982, according to Social Security Administration data. The adjustment is calculated based on the Labor Department’s measure of inflation faced by blue-collar workers. The Social Security Administration also...

Rising inflation is expected to lead to a sizeable increase in Social Security's annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for 2022. Exactly how much will be revealed Wednesday morning after a Labor Department report on inflation during September, a data point used in the final calculation. Over the last 10 years, the Social Security COLA has averaged about 1.7% annually as inflation remained low. But the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic has triggered rising prices for a wide range of goods and services, and that's expected to translate to bigger checks for retirees. Policymakers say the COLA works to preserve...

“A default could potentially — but not necessarily — delay the payment of Social Security benefits, which reach about 65 million Americans in some form,” the Times said. “It could also delay payments to government contractors, including hospitals that accept patients who use Medicare and Medicaid benefits.” A default would also have effects that trickle down further, including to state-run programs, as well as the expanded child tax credit. The next scheduled payment from that is October 15, which is before the possible default date, although another payment is due November 15.

While debt ceiling talks have put Social Security payments in the news, one topic that's been put on the back burner is a deadline Congress faces to shore up the program. Social Security's trust funds for retirement and disability benefits are projected to be able to pay only 78% of promised benefits by 2034. To fix that, Congress could consider several major adjustments. Here's what they could mean..... In just 13 years the trust funds Social Security relies on to pay retirement and disability benefits will be depleted, according to the most recent Social Security trustees' report. While benefit checks...

In the last 10 weeks, Arizona has checked the voter registration credentials with the Social Security Administration (SSA) on 673,560 applicants. This is a massive volume considering most States including Arizona typically process around 2,500 a month. They’ve processed more identities in the last 2 months than they’ve done in the last 9 years combined. Is someone scrubbing a database, or auditing “Federal Only” voters? During “new voter registration” States are to verify the driver’s license number against their own MVD database. Only in situations where no driver’s license can be provided should the State check their identity through the...

The latest annual report from the Social Security Trustees showed the insecurity of social security.According to the July 2021 snapshot from the Social Security Administration, nearly 70-million people receive a monthly benefit check, of which 51.3 million are over the age of 65.Social Security provides the majority of income to most elderly Americans. The system provides at least 50 percent of incomes for about half of seniors. For roughly 1 in 4 seniors, it provides at least 90 percent of total incomes. But, that dependency ratio is directly tied to the financial insolvency of the vast majority of Americans. According...

Thinking of retiring at 55 but worried what will happen to your Social Security benefit? Maybe dont' worry so much. I show you why in this video using the Social Security indexing updated for 2018.

Democrats have made a living in recent times with political attack ads fallaciously accusing Republicans of secret plans to destroy Medicare and Social Security. In one famous TV ad, then-House Speaker Paul Ryan was depicted as shoving an elderly woman in a wheelchair off a cliff. Well, Republicans may want to reprise that ad – and toss it back at Biden Democrats. New reports in recent days from the Congressional Budget Office and the Social Security trustees show both these programs running out of money much sooner than previously expected. Under current law, Medicare goes into the red in 2026,...

Social Security’s latest report on the status of the trust funds on which it relies to pay benefits has both good and bad news. The good news is that the funds have not been as hard hit by the Covid-19 as was initially feared, due the economic recovery that has taken place. The bad news is that the funds’ depletion dates have moved up sooner, prompting a chorus of calls for Congress to act swiftly to correct the problem. “If this report does not trigger a pretty serious and swift discussion on Capitol Hill among lawmakers about what needs to...

A social safety net is synonymous with a failsafe for many, but, as Statista's Katharina Buchholz notes, in the case of the U.S. Social Security system, additional action is needed to ensure it stays that way.The annual OASDI trustees report by the Social Security Administration, covering old-age, survivors and disability insurance, shows that under the present circumstances, the asset reserve dedicated to the benefit program could be depleted sooner rather than later. Under the report’s intermediate scenario, asset funds would run out sometime in 2034, while this could happen as soon as 2031 if the administration was to shoulder a...

The Social Security trust fund for retirement and survivors benefits is estimated to have its reserves depleted in 2033, one year earlier than previously projected, according to the trustees’ report released Tuesday. At the time of depletion, income flowing to the trust fund would be enough to pay 76 percent of scheduled benefits, the report said. Senior administration officials said on a call with reporters that the earlier projected depletion date was due to the coronavirus-related economic downturn, particularly a near-term decline in revenue.

Social Security reports nearly 400,000 more beneficiary deaths in 2020 than 2019 © Getty Images Last week, for the first time, the Social Security Administration (SSA) released information on the number of beneficiaries who died in 2020, the year the COVID-19 pandemic began. There were nearly 400,000 more beneficiary deaths in 2020 than the agency tabulated for 2019, representing a 17 percent year-over-year increase. Double-digit percentage increases, year-over-year, were found for all beneficiary groups including retirees, spouses, widows, and the disabled. SSA’s statistics almost certainly reflect the concentration of COVID-19 deaths among the populations the agency serves. The CDC's death...

I ask that you please bear with me as get something off my chest. I have been somewhat calm, yet quietly angry inside for the last 5 years. However, something happened today that is finally making my frustration meter reach the ballistic stage. Before I start going Rambo on some bureaucrats, I need to get this all off my chest. This will be long, but what I am sharing with you is what my life has been like in the last 5 years.I turn 65 on September 17, next Month. Now I have been collecting my SS check for...

Don’t listen to Bernie Sanders, America’s crazy uncle who said taxes will not increase for households making under $400,000 per year. Aside from the obvious expansion of Federal government control over the economy, the Senate’s budget resolution did NOTHING to fix the bankrupt Social Security program. This budget resolution fails to tackle the nation’s most important fiscal challenges, while likely making future reforms to forestall a crisis even more difficult. Any meaningful fiscal reform must tackle the unsustainable entitlement programs, including Medicare and Social Security. Without reforms, the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will be depleted in 2027 and the...

Wicked glee from Bill Gates to deny retired people their Social Security unless they get vaccinated. https://twitter.com/NewsAlternative/status/1423164308167352320

...."Santin is one of a growing number of so-called long-haulers—people whose symptoms linger many weeks or months after their initial case of COVID-19. Researchers estimate between 10% and 30% of COVID-19 patients develop long-term symptoms.... ...so they’re turning to a government system that’s supposed to help: Social Security disability benefits. While it’s not clear precisely how many new people will need these benefits, if 10% of the 34 million Americans who have had COVID-19 applied....it could overwhelm the system, which currently supports 8.1 million disabled workers and 1.4 million of their family members.....