Social Security benefits for nearly 58 million people will increase by 1.5 percent next year. The COLA affects benefits for more than one-fifth of the country. In addition to Social Security payments, it affects benefits for millions of disabled veterans, federal retirees and people who get Supplemental Security Income, the disability program for the poor. The amount of wages subject to Social Security taxes is also going up. Social Security is funded by a 12.4 percent tax on the first $113,700 in wages earned by a worker, with half paid by employers and the other half withheld from workers' pay….
For the past decade, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has projected lower 75-year deficits than the Social Security trustees. That relationship has now reversed, with CBO projecting a larger 75-year shortfall. One reason for the reversal is that CBO has switched from relying on the Social Security actuaries’ mortality assumptions and have come up with their own. The question is whether this is an earth-shattering development or another data point. Both the CBO and the trustees present almost an identical picture of Social Security relative to the economy. Social Security costs as a percent of GDP are scheduled to rise…
President Obama said last Thursday that while its bad members of Congress have allowed a government shutdown, it would be worse if they failed to increase the government's borrowing authority later this month. First and foremost, he said, retirement and disability benefits for millions of Americans would be at risk. More than 57 million Americans receive monthly benefits from the Social Security Administration. The average monthly check for retirees totaled $1,224 in Sept. The president's remarks followed a Treasury Department report detailing catastrophic consequences for Congress failing to allow the government to continue borrowing money to cover expenses. Not raising…
David Wingate and Charles Pettit spoke on “Social Security Secrets All Baby Boomers Must Know.” At the Education Event we spoke about how to best prepare for electing your Social Security Benefit! Did you know: 1. One decision can impact your retirement by tens of thousands of dollars. 2. That the Social Security Administration workers are FORBIDDEN BY LAW to give you any advice for filing your claim. 3. That there are 567 ways to claim your Social Security Benefit? This educational event changed the way the attendees looked at Social Security, and the options they had to…
Now turning 67, the first set of baby boomers are busting myths and aren’t working until they drop, as predicted, according to a study by the MetLife Mature Market Institute. Fifty-two percent of boomers born in 1946 are fully retired. Of those, 38 percent said they’re ready to retire, while 17 percent cited health reasons and 10 percent cited a job loss. The figures represent a big jump since 2007 and 2008, a significant leap from the 45 percent retired in 2011. “As the oldest Boomers dive into retirement, even though some have been forced to do so earlier than…
The Social Security Administration recently amended the Program Operations Manual System regarding third party travel expenses and now finds certain third party travel expenses to be for the sole benefit of the trust beneficiary. Read the POMS.
A report from the Strengthen Social Security Coalition recognizes the importance of how core administrative functions impact the lives of 57 million Social Security and 8 million SSI recipients. At an event on Capitol Hill, National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC) Executive Director Paul Nathanson joined U.S. Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Keith Ellison (D-MN), David Cicilline (D-RI), as well as other Strengthen Social Security Coalition leaders. They spoke to fixes needed and called for more funding for administrative functions. Specifically, the Transition Report for the New Commissioner of Social Security report highlights problems with issues that the…
Sequester cuts have reduced FY 2013 allocations for the Social Services Block Grant from $1.7 billion to $1.613 billion. Since the first two FY 2013 allocations were issued before sequestration took effect, the full cut will be absorbed in the second half of the fiscal year and will result in an approximate 10 percent funding cut. Social Services Block Grant allocations are used to fund many important programs for older Americans, including Adult Protective Services. See the impact of sequester on your state.
The SSA needs to focus on "program integrity," a polite term for reducing fraud and payment errors, the agency's inspector general told Congress. Reducing improper payments is one of the challenges facing the next SSA commissioner, Patrick O'Carroll, Jr., the agency's inspector general, told the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security on April 26. In fiscal year 2012, the Social Security Administration reported $4.7 billion in improper payments in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, a 9.2 percent improper payment rate. (SSI is funded by general tax revenues, not payroll taxes. It helps elderly, blind, and/or disabled people…
On January 1, the maximum amount of annual earnings subject to the Social Security tax – a.k.a. the payroll tax cap – increased to $113,700. Every year, this cap is adjusted to keep up with inflation. Many Americans are not aware that income above the cap is not taxed by Social Security. In other words, workers who make $113,700 or less per year pay a higher Social Security payroll tax rate than those who make more. To help alleviate Social Security’s long-term budget shortfall, raising — or even eliminating — the cap has gotten some attention from policy makers. A…
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