Now that the Super Committee has ground to a halt, the threatened “sword of Damocles” is poised to slash $1.2 trillion in federal spending. As we move to this next phase of the budget wars, deficit hawks will rev up one of their most phony arguments — namely, that protecting entitlement programs rewards the old [...] [...more]
Are older workers really faring better in this recession-wracked job market? Just seven percent of workers over 55 were jobless in October, compared with a nine percent national average, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported earlier this month. That’s a sizable gap, and it’s been roughly that size throughout the recession. The health of [...] [...more]
I join Jill Schlesinger of CBS Moneywatch this weekend on Jill on Money to talk about the best age to file for Social Security benefits. Jill’s syndicated radio program airs in a variety of major markets, but you also can hear it online here. You’ll find the segment I taped with Jill on the first [...] [...more]
Now that the official Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) and Medicare Part B premiums have been announced for 2012, we can tote up the numbers to see how seniors will fare. All in all, the news is pretty good – a 3.6 percent COLA coupled with a much smaller-than-expected increase in the premium for Part [...] [...more]
After two years without an inflation adjustment, the Social Security Administration announced today that seniors will get a 3.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to their retirement benefits next year. That’s a sizable raise in this economy, and very welcome news to seniors hit hard by rising costs, slumping home equity and very low returns on [...] [...more]
