By Pamela Yep, Dallas Morning News – May 3, 2015
Today, traditional pension benefits are gold for retirees who receive them, as they’re fast disappearing from the workplace.
But even with a pension, some retirees still struggle financially and sometimes have a need for extra cash because of unexpected bills or emergencies. Unfortunately, that’s when they can fall prey to companies seeking to take advantage of their desperation through a “pension advance.”
By Scott Burns, Dallas Morning News – May 2, 2015
What government gives with one hand, it takes back with the other.
I’m serious. We experience the taxation of Social Security benefits as a tax on money withdrawn from our retirement plans. Many middle-income retirees are paying taxes on those withdrawals at a 28.25 percent rate. That’s higher than the 15 percent top rate they paid throughout their working careers.
By Alina Selyukh; Reuters ~ May 01, 2015
(Reuters) – AT&T Inc, CenturyLink Inc and U.S. telecom and cable industry groups called for regulators to block parts of new rules for Internet service providers on Friday, citing “crushing” compliance costs and threats to investment.
By Constantine N. Katsoris; The Hill ~ Apr 30, 2015
Gov. Christie of New Jersey (R) recently gave a speech where he proposed gradually reducing Social Security benefits for recipients with non-Social Security incomes above certain levels (i.e. starting at $80,000 and ending at incomes exceeding $200,000).
In a recent article “Christie Begins Needed Debate on Entitlements” (which appeared in Investor’s Business Daily on April 23, 2015) its author, Robert J. Samuelson, commented:
From Eileen Appelbaum; The Hill ~ Apr 30, 2015
The comment period is now open for new rules proposed by the Obama administration that require financial professionals to put workers’ interests ahead of their own when they make recommendations for retirement savings. Modernizing the rules to take account of the growth of worker-directed retirement savings plans such as 401(k) plans and IRAs is long overdue.
From Nancy Anderson; Forbes ~ Apr 30, 2015
Should I pay off my house or keep my mortgage in retirement? This is a common question for pre-retirees.
Though it would be nice to never have to make another mortgage payment, once you pay down the loan, those funds are no longer liquid. You can’t tap the equity in your home unless you borrow against the home or sell it.
By John Fritze; The Baltimore Sun ~ Apr 29, 2015
Ø Should applying for Social Security be as easy as buying an airline ticket?
Ø “We have to use the technology that’s available to us,” says Social Security head.
A push to expand online services at the Social Security Administration is meeting resistance from a federal union that represents thousands of agency employees and groups that fear the effort will minimize face-to-face help for seniors and the disabled.
By Sarah Ferris; The Hill ~ Apr 28, 2015
The Senate Finance Committee is demanding more attention on the growing backlog of Medicare appeals claims, which federal officials are continuing to blame on a lack of funding.
The Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals is receiving a record number of appeals, with the processing time for each claim more than quadrupling over the last five years to an average of 550 days.
By Sean Buckley; Fierce Telecom ~ Apr 28, 2015
AT&T (NYSE: T) may be the largest Ethernet provider in the U.S., but to fulfill the requirements of large multi-national corporation customers (MNCs) that reside outside of its wireline territory, it would like to have a standard method to establish Ethernet interconnection with other providers.
Dan Blemings, director of Ethernet product management for AT&T mobile and business solutions, said in an interview with FierceTelecom that Ethernet interconnection even today is still a challenge.
From Howard Gleckman; Forbes ~ Apr 27, 2015
Earlier this year, the Obama Administration proposed a small and almost unnoticed change in retirement savings rules that could be a big help to middle-income seniors who want to preserve assets to pay for medical and long-term care costs in very old age.