By David R. Grube, MD; The Hill ~ Oct 26, 2015
My mom paid a painful price for not completing an advanced directive about her preferences for end-of-life medical care. She was an intelligent and organized woman who had everything in her and my dad’s life planned out and written down. She even drafted her own obituary. Ironically, she never discussed her end-of-life care preferences with my father or her physician son (me), preferring to talk about “more pleasant subjects.”
By Sarah Ferris; The Hill ~ Oct 26, 2015
GOP leaders are pushing structural reforms to Social Security that they believe would avert a 20 percent across-the-board cut in disability benefits next year while saving $200 billion over the next decade by reducing certain benefits.
From “FidelityVoice”; Forbes ~ Oct 22, 2015
December 31 is fast approaching. Have you taken your minimum required distribution (MRD) from your retirement account? Lots of people have not. Be warned: This can be a costly mistake, one that may result in significant tax penalties.
By Amy Baxter; Home Health Care News ~ Oct 22, 2015
Legislation that enables more older adults remain at home instead of moving into a nursing home has passed in Congress. The law expands the Medicare Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) to allow providers to develop pilot programs to serve more people who are at risk of needing a nursing home and certain individuals who are younger than 55.
By Tim Devaney; The Hill ~ Oct 21, 2015
The Department of the Treasury is facing mounting pressure over a proposal to cut retirement benefits for hundreds of thousands of union workers.
Hurtling toward insolvency, the Central States Pension Fund is looking to slash benefits by an average of one-third in order to prevent the program from running out of money in the coming years.
By David Blanchett; The Wall Street Journal ~ Oct 20, 2015
From Northwestern MutualVoice Team; Forbes ~ Oct 12, 2015
Pensions and annuities can be a way of securing a consistent and predictable income during retirement. There are any number of ways to structure them, but one of the key points to think about when setting up a pension or an annuity is how your loved ones will be protected if anything should happen to you.
By Eric Pianin; The Fiscal Times ~ Oct 12, 2015
Former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf has just offered his prescription for addressing the long-term costs of Social Security and Medicare at a time, he says, when the federal debt is on a dangerous upward trajectory and is larger compared with the overall economy than at almost any time in history.
“Therefore, cuts in Social Security or Medicare benefits, or increases in taxes used to finance those programs, will almost certainly be needed to put federal debt on a sustainable path,” Elmendorf wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post.
From Rob Berger; Forbes ~ Oct 10, 2015
It’s a scary online world out there for investors. Retail brokerage firm Scottrade recently disclosed that hackers stole contact information and possibly social security numbers from 4.6 million customers. Hackers stole personal information from Experian on 15 million people who applied for a regular T-Mobile USA postpaid plan last month. Target (40 million credit and debit cards breached).
From Howard Gleckman; Forbes ~ Oct 09, 2015
If the government doesn’t act soon, nearly one-third of Medicare beneficiaries face a 50 percent increase in their Part B premiums for 2016, while more than two-thirds will pay no premium hike at all. Most beneficiaries will pay the same monthly premium next year as they paid this year–$104.90. But others making the same income will pay $159.30. And some high-income retires will pay as much as $509.80.