...providing retirement news snippets from various sources for federal employees, postal employees, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities who receive Social Security . Your resource for retirement living, investment, employment, health care, and retirement leisure. - Stay Informed!
Title: Low-income Americans might not get DOGE benefits
Article Snip: "...to receive $5,000 each. Importantly, the rebate would be sent only to households that are net-income taxpayers — people who pay more in taxes than they get back — with lower-income Americans not qualifying for the return. According to the Pew Research Center, most Americans who have an adjusted gross income of under $40,000 pay effectively no federal income tax. ..."
Reference: www.nbcnews.comTitle: President Trump's Potential Changes for Social Security So Far: 3 Things You Should Know
Article Snip: "As recently as Feb. 18, Trump promised not to cut benefits. ...subject to income taxes on Social Security. The rule is based on combined income, which the Internal Revenue Service defines as half of a retiree's Social Security benefits plus other income from sources such as pensions, wages, dividends, and capital gains.
Single filers can see as much as half of their Social Security benefits taxed if they make between $25,000 and..."
Article Snip: "...Variable costs like property taxes and homeowner’s insurance premiums comprise 35% of the average monthly mortgage payment. ...Property taxes and homeowner’s insurance premiums continue to take a big chunk out of homeowners’ monthly mortgage payments. To offset these costs, homeowners are implementing various solutions, including downsizing, relocating, cutting back on expenses, and deferring large purchases. These efforts could help make homeownership more affordable for many homeowners."
Reference: www.investopedia.comTitle: Baby boomer homeowners fear losing their properties as they spend down their savings
Article Snip: "...Many baby boomers are struggling with rising home repair costs, insurance premiums, and property taxes while also facing a scarcity of affordable retirement housing options. And working all their lives isn't enough to prevent a growing number of older people from experiencing homelessness.
Rising rents and home prices, largely caused by a housing shortage and other cost-of-living spikes, are hitting older adults especially hard. Overall homelessness surged to its highest level on record..."
Title: Here’s How Much Grocery Prices Have Increased for Retirees in Every State
Article Snip: "...GOBankingRates reviewed the 2013 and 2023 cost-of-living index for groceries to find the average national grocery expenditure cost for retired individuals. The Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Inflation Calculator was then used...Alabama Grocery cost for 65+ in 2023 (using 2023 $): $7,830.20"
Reference: yahoo.comTitle: Social Security COLA 2025: Retirees Should Be Prepared for Bad News and More Bad News
Article Snip: "...The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release September's CPI-W information in early October, and the SSA is expected to announce the COLA based on that data later in the month. Until then, we won't know exactly what the adjustment will look like. However, some experts are already making predictions, based on inflation data so far this year. Analysts at advocacy group The Senior Citizens League, for example, estimated in mid-September that the 2025 COLA will be 2.5%...."
Reference: www.fool.comTitle: Retirees' Social Security checks have lost significant buying power since 2010, a new report says
Article Snip: "...Retirees would need, on average, a $370 monthly boost in their Social Security checks to make up for a 20% loss of buying power since 2010.
That means today’s average monthly benefit of $1,860 for retired workers would need to rise to about $2,230, according to a new report from the Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan group.
The spoiler: inflation.
...common senior household expenses such as car insurance, food, out-patient hospital care, and housing rose much more than that.
“The reality is that COLAs have become less and less likely to match inflation over time,” Benton said. “In the 1990s and 2000s, 60% of COLAs beat inflation. In the 2010s, only 40% did. Through the 2020s so far, only one COLA out of five—the 8.7% increase in 2023— has done so.”"
Title: Balancing a fixed income with inflation, a Georgia retiree feels stuck
Article Snip: "... Retired and taking care of her husband, Breland has seen rising prices for everything from groceries and utilities to insurance and home maintenance eat into her fixed income. She has also seen her friends struggle with inflation, as well, through the church she volunteers at. ... increasing financial pressure and has been looking to cut her monthly expenses in the face of rising prices for groceries, utilities, insurance and home maintenance. “All the money I will ever have come in is what I have now,” she said."
Reference: www.nbcnews.comTitle: This Is the Average Social Security Benefit for Age 62
Article Snip: "...The average retired worker who collects Social Security receives a monthly benefit of $..."
Reference: www.fool.comArticle Snip: "I can admit that there was a time when I thought it was possible for a person to retire comfortably on Social Security without any other source of funds. ...But relying on Social Security alone to cover your budget in retirement is a horribly bad mistake. And I'm grateful that I learned that years ago so I could switch gears on my long-term financial planning. My new game plan Even though I've only been writing about Social Security for about 10 years now..."
Reference: www.aol.comTitle: Biden’s Medicare Advantage Cuts May Come Back To Haunt Him
Article Snip: "President Joe Biden’s move in April to cut Medicare Advantage benefits for seniors may come back to haunt him. ...The Biden administration in April finalized plans to cut MA benefits, which experts said could lead to an additional $33 a month for out-of-pocket costs, or $396 a year, for enrollees. Critics of the cuts said they would be especially devastating to seniors living on fixed incomes who are already coping with ongoing inflation issues. ..."
Reference: dallasexpress.comTitle: The Numbers Don’t Lie: Americans’ Purchasing Power Is Down Under Biden
Article Snip: "...Since taking office in January 2021, the cumulative rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index, a figure calculated by the federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), stands at 19.4 percent. On the other side of the equation, the increase in average weekly earnings, also calculated by BLS, stands at 14.1 percent. In other words, since Biden entered the Oval Office, real wages are down about 5 percent. Such is why the number one concern among Americans heading into election season is the high cost of living. According to Gallup, the vast majority of likely voters cite the “economy in general” and the “high cost of living/inflation” as the “most important problem facing the country today.”..."
Reference: townhall.comTitle: What Risks Do Near Retirees and Retirees Face from Inflation
Article Snip: "...High inflation tends to harm older households, but the size of the impact varies due to three factors: the extent to which income and assets...retirees are hurt more than near retirees as, outside of Social Security, their income is less indexed to prices and they hold less debt. ..."
Reference: crr.bc.eduArticle Snip: "...cope with the runaway inflation of earlier this decade and the continued high prices for food, housing, utilities and other necessities.
That’s forcing more of them to spend their emergency savings, carry debt on credit cards or apply for assistance programs, according to The Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan public education and advocacy group. ...senior citizens are often in a more difficult predicament because many live off fixed incomes. Many depend heavily on Social Security – some 42% of elderly women and 37% of elderly men rely on the monthly payments"
Article Snip: "...careful look at the labor market now will suggest that hiring has just ground to a halt...The problem is that the Fed badly misread how long high inflation would linger...In December, the core inflation print notched an annual 3.2% increase. "They've never missed in that direction by that magnitude ..."
Reference: www.businessinsider.comTitle: The Income Gap Jeopardizing Retirement for Millions
Article Snip: "...the inequities between the very bottom and the top of income distribution,” said Jack Chapel, the lead author of the study, an economist and doctoral candidate... “We wanted to look at the middle class, where people are struggling.”
Drawing on data from the national Health and Retirement Study between 1994 and 2018, the researchers found “a bifurcation” among Americans in their mid-50s, he said.
In effect, they now divide into two middle classes: the ..."
Title: Biden's 2020 Promised Lies for Social Security That Never Happened
Article Snip: "He would expand some benefits while not reducing any, reducing economic hardship. ...Biden would raise benefits for long-term low-wage workers, widow(er)s from dual earner-couples, caregivers, government workers, and long-term beneficiaries. My colleagues and I have long argued for increasing Social Security benefits for people..."
Reference: www.taxpolicycenter.orgArticle Excerpt: "Biden, who had appeared with striking autoworkers in Michigan in September, called it a “hard-fought agreement” that was reached after weeks of “good faith” negotiations. ...members, would include a 25 percent general pay increase over the course of a four-year contract, increased retirement benefits and more paid leave. ..."
Reference Source: www.valleycentral.com
Title: Biden is pursuing the most anti-business economic policies since FDR
Article Snip: " The economy was reeling at a 6.5% annual growth rate. That was given to him on a silver platter by Donald Trump. Today, the economy is actually reeling at a 1% growth rate. Boss Biden gets another Bottomless Pinocchio. How about "unleash prosperity"? Now, that would be my kind of slogan or, how about, "a rising tide lifts all boats"? Trouble with Joe Biden is he's a stick-in-the-mud class warrior. Middle, lower, upper… diversity, equity, inclusion, woke… it's all left-wing gibberish. Biden says his "middle-out, bottom-up, whatever-that-means" is "working." Sure it is, Joe... A couple of new polls out today. YouGov just said 29% of voters approve of his inflation policy, while 61% disapprove. Overall, a recent AP/NORC (University of Chicago) poll says 34% of voters approve of Biden's economic policy — 34%. So, we have a disconnect here between rhetoric and the reality. Or, in terms of "middle-out, bottom-up," real hourly earnings, a.k.a. middle class wages, are falling 3% at an annual rate. Or, real average weekly earnings are dropping at a 5% annual rate. Or, for the bottom quartile of income earners, which is $38,000 a year or less, they've declined by 2.3% under Joe Bidenomics. "
Reference: www.foxbusiness.comArticle Snip: "“A major storm impacting the Gulf Coast and nearby refineries will likely lead to a spike in gas prices for a few weeks,” AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross told CNBC. Such circumstances could affect the 2024 COLA. “The COLA estimate will go up if the price of gasoline jumps considerably,” Mary Johnson, Social Security and Medicare policy analyst at The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), told the news outlet. “The COLA estimate might go down if gas and oil prices drop.”..."
Reference: yahoo.comeverify Social Security Lock | Protect Yourself From The Foreign Invasion Snippet of Article: "...Self Lock is the unique feature...