...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: New homes are getting smaller. That could be big news for first-time buyers
Article Snip: "...For most of the last half-century, new single-family homes kept growing. In 1973, the median size of completed single-family homes was 1,525 square feet, according to US Census data. By 2015, that number had ballooned to 2,467 square feet. ..."
Reference: www.cnn.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: Donald Trump calls for elimination of tax on Social Security
Article Snip: "...Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for scrapping the tax that seniors must pay on their Social Security checks.
“SENIORS SHOULD NOT PAY TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY!” the 45th president straightforwardly wrote on Truth Social. ...
Generally speaking, there is a tax of up to 50% tax on one’s Social Security benefits if total income is between 25,000 and $34,000 – and up to an 85% tax on benefits when income is over $34,000, according to the Social Security Administration.
Trump, 78, made waves in his own party earlier this year with his vow to eliminate taxation on tips.
The Republican Party’s platform, which was approved earlier this month and personally written in part by Trump, rules out cuts to Social Security and Medicare, including any potential lifting of the retirement age. ..."
Title: An Update on the Social Security Fairness Act
Article Snip: "..pass the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82, S. 597). This bill would repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which are parts of Social Security law that unfairly reduce, or sometimes eliminate, Social Security benefits for millions of federal annuitants. The GPO and WEP penalize CSRS retirees that meet the requirements for Social Security benefits and have paid their fair share into the program. To address this inequity, 324 members of the House and 61 members of the Senate from both parties now support this legislation. ...."
Reference: apwu.orgTitle: 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: Credit card balances past due reach highest level since at least 2012: Philly Fed
Article Snip: "percentage of credit card balances past due reached the highest levels since at least 2012. ...New card originations also fell on a Y/Y basis, falling by $3.8B, or 3.6%. Number of accounts fell by 3.4M, or 17%, Q/Q and by 1.3M accounts, or 7.4%, Y/Y.
Mortgage originations bottomed out at a series low at $44.4B and 80,100 accounts in Q1 2024, the study said. However, with the price of houses continuing to climb, the average new loan size rose to $554,450. The median new mortgage size increased 9.6% to $335,000..."
'...One part of the blood test — called plasma phosphorylated tau 217, or p-tau217 for short — is one of several blood biomarkers scientists are evaluating for use in the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment and early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. ...'
Title: There’s a catch in USPS insurance program for Medicare-eligible retirees
Article Snip: "As preparations ramp up to launch a new health insurance program for the Postal Service, the Office of Personnel Management is anticipating the possibility that some USPS annuitants will opt out of Medicare prescription drug coverage without realizing the full consequences. For USPS employees and annuitants, Open Season will look somewhat different this fall. In tandem with the standard open enrollment period for participants in the existing Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program, all USPS employees, annuitants and their family members will have to switch into the new Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) program. ...USPS annuitants who opt out of Medicare Part D will lose underlying prescription drug coverage, according to OPM's regulations. ..."
Reference: federalnewsnetwork.comTitle: Social Security’s Office of the Inspector General Releases Scam Report to Congress
Article Snip: "...Social Security’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently released its quarterly Scam Report to Congress. The report provides information about scam trends in the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2024 (January 1 — March 31, 2024). “As public servants, we must use every tool at our disposal to raise awareness and protect the American ... To learn how to protect yourself and your loved ones, visit our Protect Yourself from Scams page. If you receive a suspicious call, text, email, social media message, or letter from someone claiming to be from Social Security: ..."
Reference: ssa.govTitle: Best states in the country for retirees
Article Snip: "...Florida remains one of the best states in the country for retirees because of its tax laws overall, according to U.S. News and World Report. “Making the move to Florida comes with multiple tax benefits,” U.S. News reported. ..."
Reference: www.meadvilletribune.comArticle Snip: "...The platform addresses a range of economic issues, including a pledge to "end inflation" and "make America affordable again." It also says it would preserve Social Security and Medicare benefits without any cuts and not raise the retirement age.
The platform says the GOP would address inflation by ending illegal immigration and lifting restrictions on American energy production, which it says would allow access to more affordable energy. ..."
Title: West Virginia is the most affordable state, study says
Article Snip: "...CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — If you’re looking for an affordable state to live and buy a home, several recent studies say that West Virginia is your best option in the U.S. A recent report by doxo used the 2024 Cost of Bill Index (COBI) found that West Virginia’s standard cost of living is 25% lower than the national average. ..."
Reference: www.wboy.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.comTitle: Federal employee gets conflicting advice on Medicare
Article Snip: "...Your friends are correct: You should enroll in Medicare Parts A and B when you retire. The rules regarding when and how to enroll in Medicare also apply for federal employees, a change that took place a few years ago. Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) must ..."
Reference: www.reviewjournal.comArticle Snip: "...Few retirees dream of spending their golden years living in their adult kids’ basements or begging family members for money. Unfortunately, that's the harsh reality for a significant number of GenXers, according to Prudential's 2024 Pulse Of The American Retiree Survey...."
Reference: yahoo.comTitle: When You And Your Spouse Meet While Partying
Article Snip: "The most common is when one partner stops wanting to party so hard and the other still does. ...the partner who isn’t ready to give up constant socializing or getting drunk at work happy hours will really frustrate the partner who is ready to transition to a more stable life...Another issue that can plague couples who primarily spent time together when drunk/partying is a difference in sexual desire. When low libido people are drinking or using drugs, their libido may be artificially inflated and their inhibitions are much lower. ...If this resonates with you, read the memoir Smashed. The author talks about how she was thought to be, and felt internally, much younger than her age because she had only really learned to socialize when drunk. When she stopped drinking, she realized she had lost years of social development and was basically frozen at the age that she was when she started binge drinking, which was early adolescence. When you don’t learn to talk to others when sober at a younger age, you need to learn this later on."
Reference: www.drpsychmom.comTitle: The big problem with couples retiring at different times?
Article Snip: "...The big trouble, however, is with couples retiring at different times — and how it impacts long-term financial security. More than half of American households do not retire all at once if you count individuals working in retirement and spouses retiring at different times. ...The result is that 6 in 10 couples “experience spending volatility at the beginning of retirement ..."
Reference: finance.yahoo.comTitle: The disability benefits application process just got a little easier thanks to SSA adjustments
Article Snip: "The Social Security Administration (SSA) is adjusting its evaluation process to help Americans with disabilities more easily access the benefits they need. Typically, when an individual becomes disabled, the SSA offers benefits through the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. ..."
Reference: www.foxbusiness.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.comUS aid paying Ukrainian pensions Snippet of Article: "...Joe Biden stated that funding in a Ukrainian aid package, and later app...