...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: The US is mailing Americans free COVID tests again. Here’s how to get them
Article Snip: "...reopened the program on Thursday, allowing any household to order up to four at-home COVID nasal swab kits through the website, covidtests.gov. The tests will begin shipping, via the United States Postal Service, as soon as next week. ..."
Reference: www.dailybreeze.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: Trump promises to halt taxes on Social Security; cites 'inflation nightmare' for seniors
Article Snip: "..."To help seniors on fixed incomes who are suffering the ravages of Comrade Kamala Harris' inflation nightmare — I'm promising NO TAX on SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS!" he wrote on X. ..."
Reference: www.foxbusiness.comArticle Snip: "...U.S. Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) and Garret Graves (R-LA-06) today officially filed a discharge petition and are building support to force a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on their bipartisan legislation to eliminate the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO).
Spanberger and Graves filed a discharge petition to force a vote on the U.S. House floor on their bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act. The legislation would eliminate both the WEP and the GPO, two provisions added to the Social Security Act in 1983 that unfairly reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for millions of Americans who have devoted much of their careers to public service — including federal employees..."
Title: Did you know FSAs can help pay for these items?
Article Snip: "The special spending accounts cover the costs of many products and services...A dependent care FSA can be used for child care, before- and after-school care and day care.
The IRS determines which expenses can be reimbursed by an FSA.
The FSAFEDS website has a complete list of products and services that are eligible for reimbursement under an FSA. ...
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Title: 'Night Owls' More Likely to Develop Type 2 Diabetes
Article Snip: "...Folks who like to stay up late are nearly 50% more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those who go to bed earlier, a new study finds.
However, it’s not just because they have an unhealthy lifestyle, according to findings presented...
night owls might be able to improve their health by altering the timing of meals, van der Velde said."
Title: This metabolic brain boost revives memory in Alzheimer’s mice
Article Snip: "...The finding, published in the journal Science, suggests that it may eventually be possible to reverse some symptoms of Alzheimer’s in people, using drugs that boost brain metabolism. ..."
Reference: www.npr.orgTitle: Armed Gangs of Illegal Aliens Taking Over Aurora, CO Apartment Buildings - and Nothing Is Being Done
Article Snip: "...In Aurora, Colorado, armed criminal gangs are taking over apartment buildings. The gangs are charging rent on the apartments they have seized; they are selling drugs and, according to accounts from displaced residences, engaged in sex trafficking. And the local authorities seem unable, or unwilling, to do anything about it. ... Potential gang activity was caught on surveillance camera in a Colorado apartment building after what one former resident calls "no accountability" kept law enforcement from assisting."
Reference: redstate.comArticle Snip: "...analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, Bloomberg found the number of Americans in this category jumped between 2012 and 2022 by 5 percentage points to just shy of 40%. Moreover, Bloomberg reports that more than half of these owners have reached retirement age. So if you’re fortunate enough to be mortgage-free and headed towards retirement, chances are you have a lot going for you financially. For starters, the worth of your home, should you choose to sell it, represents 100% equity. ..."
Reference: moneywise.comArticle Snip: "...The recent massive data breach at National Public Data (NPD), a background check company, has potentially compromised the personal information of millions, if not billions, of individuals, including their Social Security numbers, dates of birth, phone numbers, current and past addresses, the names of siblings and parents, and other information. The hacker responsible for the compromise claims the stolen files include 2.7 billion records. ..."
Reference: www.foley.comTitle: Social Security COLA Increase for 2025 Could Be the Lowest in Four Years
Article Snip: "...Don’t expect a substantial cost of living amount (COLA) increase in your Social Security checks in 2025. The latest estimates put the COLA at 2.6%, according to the non-profit Senior Citizens League, down from 2.7% in July and 3.2% last year. The drop reflects the easing of inflationary pressures. ... While a lower inflation rate should lead to a smaller increase in prices, it does nothing to lower current prices for groceries, utilities or housing that many are struggling to meet. Changes to the COLA are based on the CPI-W, which is a measure of price changes for a selection of goods and services ..."
Reference: www.kiplinger.comTitle: 7 Statin Alternatives You Can Take to Help Lower Your Cholesterol
Article Snip: "...Statins, such as atorvastatin (Lipitor), are first-choice medications for treating high cholesterol. But they’re not the right medication for everybody.
Along with a heart-healthy diet and regular exercise, statin alternatives such as ezetimibe (Zetia) can be taken with or without statins to help you meet your cholesterol goals. Other options include fibrates like gemfibrozil (Lopid), ATP citrate lyase (ACL) inhibitors like bempedoic acid (Nexletol), and more.
Natural and over-the-counter medications, like fish oil supplements, may also help ...
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Title: Statin side effects: Weigh the benefits and risks - Mayo
Article Snip: "...While statins are highly effective and safe for most people, they have been linked to muscle pain, digestive problems and mental fuzziness in some people. Rarely, they may cause liver damage. If you think you're experiencing side effects from taking statins, don't just stop taking the pills. ...Statins are effective at lowering cholesterol and protecting against a heart attack and stroke, although they may lead to side effects for some people. ... If you think you're experiencing side effects from taking statins, don't just stop taking the pills. Talk to your health care team to see if a change in how much medicine you take or even a different type of medicine might be helpful."
Reference: www.mayoclinic.orgTitle: Wegovy works. But here's what happens if you can't afford to keep taking the drug
Article Snip: "...insurance coverage is very spotty. Medicare does not cover Wegovy or other weight loss drugs, and many insurers follow Medicare's lead. Increasingly, there's pressure to change this. As STAT reported last week, the Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida is lobbying for legislation that would allow Medicare to pay for obesity drugs, citing the link between obesity and cancer risk. The NAACP is also registered to lobby on this issue. ..."
Reference: www.npr.orgArticle Snip: "...Pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk has turned to influential Black Americans in pursuit of what would be a lucrative victory: having Medicare cover a new class of weight loss drugs, including the company's highly sought Wegovy, which can cost patients more than $1,000 a month. During a conference of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation last fall — a jampacked gathering featuring prominent Black lawmakers and President Joe Biden — Novo Nordisk sponsored a..."
Reference: www.npr.orgTitle: Ozempic and Stomach Paralysis - WebMD
Article Snip: "...While the slowing down of the digestive system is necessary for Ozempic and these other drugs to work, if it slows down too much, you can get a serious problem: stomach paralysis. What Is Stomach Paralysis? When food enters a healthy stomach that’s working as it should, the stomach...Here’s what to look out for:"
Reference: www.webmd.com/Title: Social Security | Why It’s Important to Tell Us About Changes When You Get Social Security Benefits
Article Snip: "...If you receive Social Security, you can help to make sure we pay you the right benefit each month. You can do that by telling us about relationship or other life changes that could affect your eligibility for retirement, survivors, or disability benefits – or your benefit amount. You and your family may miss out..."
Reference: ssa.govTitle: Seven Lessons for New Retirees
Article Snip: "...The former editor of Kiplinger Personal Finance shares key financial takeaways from his first year of retirement. ..."
Reference: www.kiplinger.comTitle: This Alabama city might be 'South's best-kept secret destination'
Article Snip: "... One Alabama city is getting some love from Forbes.com for being possibly “The South’s Best-Kept Secret Destination,” and it’s a lot farther from the beach than you might guess.
The new article at Forbes.com depicts Huntsville as a “charming Southern city [that] doesn’t usually top travel lists” but says “that’s part of what makes it so fascinating.” ...
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