Free Republic

Count Peter Schweizer among the “doubters” of the Biden administration’s choice of former Commerce Secretary and major Democratic donor Penny Pritzker to lead U.S. efforts to channel private sector reconstruction assistance to Ukraine. Pritzker, the heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune and a real estate mogul herself, was corrupt and self-dealing during her commerce department tenure under President Barack Obama, which Schweizer documented in a 12-page chapter of his book, Secret Empires. “You really wonder who’s going to benefit from all this,” Schweizer said of the aid money headed to Ukraine. “Yet, here comes Penny Pritzker… She has no moral...

Social Security recipients have been hit with payback demands following overpayment - and now the government agency is facing questions over how billions of dollars were incorrectly paid out. Numerous reports have told the stories of people, many of whom are vulnerable or suffer from a disability, who have been asked to pay back large sums due to the service accidentally giving them too much money. Social Security payments are made for a variety of reasons. SSA benefits are paid based on your earnings record if you are aged 62 or older or if you are a person with a...

(NEXSTAR) — As lawmakers continue to try to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month, many are growing concerned about how it could affect them, especially when it comes to federal monthly payments they receive. The government could shut down by the end of next week, if Congress isn’t able to pass a spending bill. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed Wednesday he would not give up trying to persuade his colleagues to pass a temporary funding bill. So what would that mean for your Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, or Veterans Affairs payments? In short, they will not...

Payments to Social Security recipients may increase a bit more than expected in 2024, but an advocacy group says they'll still fall short of what retirees need. The Senior Citizens League said Wednesday that the Social Security cost of living adjustment, or COLA, will likely be 3.2% for 2024. That would add about $57 to monthly benefits, raising them to $1,790 for the average recipient, according to the group's estimates. The cost of living adjustment is calculated based on an average of the inflation readings for the months of July, August and September. Specifically, it's based on the Consumer Price...

I recently had the opportunity to address a group of patriotic young Americans at the Young Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas. I was able to visit with a number of these bright young people, either individually or in small groups, both before and after my talk. One of the things that I learned is that many of them do not support our Social Security system, and there were several reasons given for this. For example, one said that he believes Social Security will go broke long before he reaches retirement age. Another gentleman said that he could do far...

Milton Friedman once observed, “If the government ran the Sahara, in five years there would be a shortage of sand.” He was right. The government has run Social Security for more than 80 years, and now there is a shortage of security. At this point, the experts believe that someone who is 79 years old today is likely to outlive the system’s ability to pay scheduled benefits. The solution, according to the White House fact sheet on the 2024 Budget Proposal, is: do nothing, and the Republicans cheered. That leaves a rapidly growing problem to third parties.Social Security presents a...

Experts are warning that the Republican Party's plans to overhaul Social Security should "terrify voters". Earlier this year, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) published its FY 2024 Budget Protecting America's Social Security. Policymakers in Washington are negotiating changes to the retirement benefit system in light of concerns that the Social Security system will become insolvent by 2023. According to analysis, Republicans are proposing cuts to Social Security and raising the Retirement Age. Alicia H. Munnell, the director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, is sounding the alarm that "rich" Americans will not be the only ones experiencing...

TOKYO -- Up to 42% of Japanese women born in 2005 could end up not having children in their lifetimes, according to a government estimate, a high percentage that could threaten the future of its social security program. Japan's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research gives this estimate for women born in 2005 under its low-birth scenario. In the medium scenario, 33.4% of this group will go through their childbearing years without having kids. In the most optimistic case, the rate will be 24.6%. The percentage is even higher for men, who are more likely to be unmarried...

On Aug. 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Social Security into law. Eighty-eight years later, our Social Security system is among the most successful and popular government programs in history. Nearly every worker pays premiums (Federal Insurance Contributions or FICA) for Social Security. In return, they receive insurance benefits when they retire, become disabled, or lose a family breadwinner. Social Security is secure, efficient, and the most important source of retirement income for the vast majority of Americans. Social Security does have one major flaw, though: Its benefits are too low. The average Social Security benefit is only $1,700...

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers must address the trillions of dollars that make up the national debt and deficit without touching Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, Sen. Chris Coons said Monday. “I recognize that the art of politics is finding one that both parties can support,” Coons, D-Del., told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “But frankly, at the end of the day, Democrats are not going to cut benefits under Social Security.” Coons said Congress needs “to find a way forward in the middle that balances revenue and spending in a positive way” following Fitch’s decision to downgrade the nation’s long-term debt this month.

In 2023, Social Security benefits got an 8.7% COLA, the largest cost-of-living adjustment since 1981. According to the United States Social Security Administration (SSA), "COLAs are based on increases in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W)." So, when inflation starts to cool, that means a lower cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security recipients. Currently, inflation is at its lowest level in two years, dropping to a 12-month rate of 3.0% in June. This is down from 4.0% in May and 4.9% in April. David Payne, staff economist from the Kiplinger Letter, forecasts a 3% Social...

(NEXSTAR) – The next cost-of-living increase for Social Security recipients is projected to be slightly better than previously estimated, but still the lowest in years, the Senior Citizen’s League predicts. The Senior Citizen’s League (TSCL), a nonpartisan senior advocacy group, had estimated in mid-June that 2024’s COLA increase could be somewhere around 2.7% — a huge drop-off from 2023’s 8.7% increase. The group’s revised estimate, issued Thursday following the publication of the Labor Bureau’s Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners (CPI-W), now puts that number at 3%, they say. Three percent, however, would still amount to the lowest COLA...

“Ponzi Scheme” is a term that was coined about 100 years ago. It was named after an Italian immigrant, Charles Ponzi, who realized he could get investors by promising large returns for undefined, high-yield investments. His endeavor needed to make just enough money to keep attracting new investors, whose money, after Ponzi’s cut, was used to pay some of the earlier investors. In our modern day, Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme resulted in losses in the billions of dollars when the stock market tanked during the Great Recession. Selling the Deal Americans are just beginning to see the tip of the...

President Donald Trump is making an anticipated appearance at the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women today, where he will double down on his strong stance to protect Medicare and Social Security for American seniors. The president will take a swing at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., who has been slammed in the past for voting to raise the minimum ages for drawing Medicare and Social Security during his time in Congress. President Trump will declare: “Unlike Ron DeSanctimonious—who voted to gut Medicare and Social Security and voted 3 times to raise the retirement age to 70—I will ALWAYS protect...

There's something about statistics that gets me energized, even on a weekday! I particularly enjoy comparing myself to others and understanding how I measure up. It's only natural to want to know if you're average or above average. This knowledge helps you gauge your position and serves as a valuable reminder of what the future may hold. As a financial planner, understanding retirement averages like these can truly assist both you and me in planning for the future. So, let me share with you my thoughts on some intriguing figures I recently came across in a Wall Street Journal article...

The first round of June's three Social Security payments, worth up to $4,555, will be sent out in 11 days, according to the Social Security Administration's schedule.

President Biden on Thursday sought to reassure Americans that benefits for veterans and Social Security recipients would not be impacted by the looming threat of a default as negotiators struggle to come to a budget deal and raise the debt ceiling. “I’ve made clear time and again defaulting on our national debt is not an option,” Biden said in remarks from the Rose Garden where he was set to nominate the new Joint Chiefs of Staff. “The American people deserve to know that their Social Security payments will be there, that Veterans’ hospitals remain open and that economic progress will...

In the days ahead, it should be borne in mind that in 1923 the federal government, with the exception of war widows, did not pay the personal living expenses of non-federal persons and their families. People back then worked to get the things and services they desired, and America was the greatest nation on Earth thanks to their efforts. WHY WE MUST FIGHT I believe the Democrats did not raise the maximum debt authorization amount when they controlled the House, Senate and White House (and had the absolute ability to do so) because they wanted to play their previously succcessful...

(NEXSTAR) – Social Security recipients shouldn’t expect 2024’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to be as significant as 2023’s, despite warnings that beneficiaries are losing their purchasing power. “The 2024 COLA could be around 3.1%,” Mary Johnson, the Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for the Senior Citizens League, said in a news release issued last week.

The Trump campaign took a sledgehammer to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s, R-Fla., voting record on retirement benefits, roasting the Florida leader as colluding with “globalist handlers,” according to Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung.“DeSantis is colluding with his globalist handlers to go full Never Trump in order to gaslight the people into thinking that Medicare and Social Security should be ripped away from hard-working Americans,” Cheung said in an official statement. “President Trump has made it clear that he will always stand on the side of Americans, and protect benefits seniors worked for and paid for their entire lives.”Ron Desantis Wants to Rip...