From John Wasik; Forbes ~ Feb 23, 2015

When I was stung by a tax scam last year, someone stole my or my wife’s Social Security number and filed a false return.

But the thief wasn’t too smart and a huge refund check came my way, which I returned to the IRS.

Yeah, I sent a generous government rebate right back to the Treasury. It wasn’t a legal refund, so I let the IRS know immediately that I was the victim of fraud.

This year, I have a new personal identification number for efiling and things should be hunk dory, although I have to admit the idea of a surprise tax refund is like Christmas in April.

By Ben Steverman; Bloomberg Business ~ Feb 23, 2015B

Investment advisers should act in their customers’ best interests, President Obama says. Here’s how they don’t, and how it can hurt you.

Right now, only some advisers are fiduciaries, required to put their clients’ needs first, while many brokers and advisers need only to recommend “suitable” financial products. On Monday, the White House said it would support a plan to change that.

By Alan Fram; The Associated Press ~ Feb 23, 2015

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch is backing a Supreme Court challenge to one of the keystones of President Barack Obama’s health care law. Now, he says he’s preparing a plan to help people who might be hurt if his side wins the case.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments next week in a case by conservatives and Republicans that says many subsidies the law provides for millions of people are unconstitutional. They argue that the law only allows such subsidies for the 13 states that set up their own marketplaces to sell health insurance, not the 37 states that use the federal HealthCare.gov website.

By Gail Buckner; Fox Business ~ Feb 23, 2015

There are just a few key requirements that must be met in order to qualify for a Social Security benefit based upon the earnings record of your current spouse:

1. You must be married at least one year.

2. You must be at least 62 years old.

3. Your spouse must have filed for his or her own Social Security benefit.

Though this is pretty straightforward, due to the fact that there are many combinations of ages, benefit amounts and other circumstances that must be taken into account, it can be difficult to understand the impact your filing age can have.

By Robert Weiner and Autumn Kelly, Palm Beach Post – Feb 21, 2015

Congress needs to be constantly reminded: Quit messing with Social Security.
There are currently three dangerous signals that “reform” — read that, cuts — intends to chip away at this valued entitlement:

Multi-employer pension funds were cut under the recent spending bill passed by both chambers;
The House blocked transferring funds from Social Security to its Disability section (though done 11 times previously);
and members from both parties are proposing to pass a cost-of-living-adjustment that would reduce payments by $1,000 annually for seniors.

From Erik Carter; Forbes ~ Feb 20, 2015

One of the most common questions we get from people about to retire is how to turn their retirement savings into retirement income. After all, for most of our life, retirement planning is about accumulating a nest egg. What to do with that nest egg when we actually retire is a whole different ball game. Here is a step-by-step guide you can follow to help maximize your income over your lifetime:

By Matt Sedensky, AP; Miami Herald ~ Feb 19, 2015

TAMPA, Fla. Amid a profound shift in America’s demographics, advocates for seniors pressed Thursday for changes on long-term care, retirement security and elder abuse as the White House launched a series of forums on aging.

The session in Tampa was the first of five nationwide that will mold the topics addressed later at the White House Conference on Aging, a once-a-decade meeting that has led to change on everything from senior housing to Social Security.

SymbianOne ~ Feb 19, 2015

AT&T Also Only Telecom Company Among World’s 50 Most Admired Companies

Today, AT&T* was recognized by FORTUNE magazine as the Most Admired Telecommunications Company in the world in 2015.

“Being recognized by FORTUNE as the number one telecom company is a testament to our 240,000 employees working hard every day to help customers mobilize their world with fast, highly secure connectivity to everything on the Internet – everywhere and on every device,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO.

By Jamie Hopkins ; Forbes ~ Feb 18, 2015

Social Security is the backbone of retirement planning in the United States. Nearly one-third of retirees receive almost all of their retirement income from the system and nearly two-thirds receive more than half of their retirement income from Social Security. In short, America’s retirees need Social Security. However, it is not only retirees that rely upon Social Security. The Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund provides benefits to disabled workers, their spouses, and children. In December 2014, nearly 11 million people received Disability Insurance from Social Security, with an average benefit of roughly $1,000 per month. While the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the portion of Social Security that most people think of as their retirement benefits, is not set to run out of money in the trust until 2033, the Disability Insurance Trust will run out in 2016 if nothing is changed. This shortfall would result in a nearly 20% cut to benefits, reducing those $1,000 checks down to $800 a month. The acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Carolyn Colvin, recently stressed the importance of the situation when she stated “I don’t want to be dramatic, but I’ve worked with this population my whole career. I think we [would] give them a death sentence[.]” However, some of the proposals coming from Congress and the current Administration would provide only temporary relief, again delaying any solutions to the real funding issues with Social Security.

By Gina Kolata; The New York Times ~ Feb 17, 2015

Suffering. The very word made doctors uncomfortable. Medical journals avoided it, instructing authors to say that patients “ ‘have’ a disease or complications or side effects rather than ‘suffer’ or ‘suffer from’ them,” said Dr. Thomas H. Lee, the chief medical officer of Press Ganey, a company that surveys hospital patients.

But now, reducing patient suffering — the kind caused not by disease but by medical care itself — has become a medical goal. The effort is driven partly by competition and partly by a realization that suffering, whether from long waits, inadequate explanations or feeling lost in the shuffle, is a real and pressing issue. It is as important, says Dr. Kenneth Sands, the chief quality officer at Harvard’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, as injuries, like medication errors or falls, or infections acquired in a hospital.