By Nancy Anderson; Forbes ~ Jan 08, 2015

Time is priceless. Having time to do the things you want to do, when you want to do them, is what retirement is all about . Financial independence means not having to get up in the morning to be somewhere — unless it’s exactly where you want to be. This influx of free time may have its pitfalls, however. You may have plenty of time, but you can end up spending money on costly, frivolous things that don’t really add value to your life. You didn’t spend your entire adult life working, saving, and investing just to watch money leak out in retirement. Because you have extra time, you also have the chance to do your research. This will help you make thoughtful purchases and maximize the value of your retirement dollars. Here are some money-wasters to watch out for — and some opportunities you should take advantage of:

By Ed Baig; USA TODAY ~ Jan 07, 2015

LAS VEGAS — AT&T and T-Mobile are going at it—again. This time it’s over plans that let customers roll over high-speed data from month to month.

On Wednesday, AT&T announced that starting January 25, the carrier’s 50 million Mobile Share Value customers will be able to pass along any unused data to the next month and share that data across all accounts and devices. The plan automatically kicks in and applies to both consumer and business accounts.

The news comes only a few weeks after T-Mobile unveiled a similar Data Stash feature that lets its own customers roll forward high-speed unused data.

Is AT&T playing catch up? “It’s just the opposite,” claims Ralph de la Vega, the president and CEO of AT&T Mobility and Business Solutions. Back in the day, AT&T pioneered the rollover concept with voice.

By Bernie Becker; The Hill ~ Jan 07, 2015

A bipartisan group of lawmakers predicted Wednesday that the House could repeal ObamaCare’s tax on medical device sales by the end of March.

Republicans have pushed to roll back the tax for years, and have insisted for months that would be a top goal if they wrested away full control on Capitol Hill.

The latest effort at repeal, a bill introduced on Tuesday by Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.), already has the backing of well over half the House – including two dozen Democrats.

“Many of us were saying from the outset this is a very ill-conceived idea,” Paulsen said at a news conference on Wednesday with other repeal supporters. “You’re going to have fewer start-ups, less ideas in the garage.”

By Max Ehrenfreund; The Washington Post ~ Jan 07, 2015

On the first day of the new Congress, Republicans symbolically bound themselves to what is certain to be a controversial reform of the federal disability insurance program, which would probably occur near the height of the 2016 presidential campaign.

Social Security has two components, the disability insurance program and the much larger Old Age and Survivors Insurance program, for which almost all Americans become fully eligible when they reach retirement age. Congress has historically treated them as one system, moving money between one pot and the other if one is running short on funds and the other has plenty of money.

By Dylan Scott; Talking Points Memo ~ Jan 06, 2015

With a little-noticed proposal, Republicans took aim at Social Security on the very first day of the 114th Congress.

The incoming GOP majority approved late Tuesday a new rule that experts say could provoke an unprecedented crisis that conservatives could use as leverage in upcoming debates over entitlement reform.

The largely overlooked change puts a new restriction on the routine transfer of tax revenues between the traditional Social Security retirement trust fund and the Social Security disability program. The transfers, known as reallocation, had historically been routine; the liberal Center for Budget and Policy Priorities said Tuesday that they had been made 11 times. The CBPP added that the disability insurance program “isn’t broken,” but the program has been strained by demographic trends that the reallocations are intended to address.

The company is hammering the point that it is aggressively pursuing new areas, such as Internet of Things, connected cars and smart homes.

By Roger Cheng; CNET ~ Jan 05, 2015

LAS VEGAS — AT&T had a lot to share at its annual developer conference: new partners for its smart home and connected car programs and a panel discussing the idea of the Internet of Things.

img5491.jpgAT&T holds its annual developer summit in Las Vegas. Roger Cheng/CNET

Oh, and the company quietly slipped in an announcement, via a press release, that it would carry LG’s G Flex 2.

The focus of AT&T’s annual developer conference, held a day before the International CES officially kicks off, underscores the broader shifts going on within the company. While AT&T’s core business remains providing Internet, landline and wireless phone service, the company is branching out into different areas, connecting cars, homes and more.

By Robert Powell; MarketWatch ~ Jan 05, 2015

We don’t have a crystal ball, but for those who are retired and those folks saving for retirement, here are a few of the risks and opportunities looming in 2015.

“My perspective is that there are several major issues facing the retirement system, but progress in addressing them has been very slow,” said Anna Rappaport, the chair of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) Committee on Post Retirement Needs and Risks. “We need to do more and stalled efforts need to move ahead.”

So, what more needs to be done, what needs to move ahead? Here’s what Rappaport and other experts said should/could happen in the coming year.

By Bernie Becker; The Hill ~ Jan 04, 2015

This much is true: Both President Obama and top Republicans are saying the right things about tax reform right now.

Whether that means that the two sides will make the progress in 2015 necessary to overhaul the tax code before Obama leaves office is another question entirely.

At his year-end news conference, Obama insisted that he would put out more specific tax reform proposals in the coming months, answering GOP critics who’ve said the White House hasn’t put in the necessary work on rewriting the code.

Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), has said that tax reform is on the short list of issues – also including trade and infrastructure improvements – with the best chance for bipartisan cooperation once Republicans take full control on Capitol Hill in January.

By Anne Tergesen; MarketWatch ~ Jan 04, 2015

According to researchers at Georgetown University and Pennsylvania State University, about 70% of individuals 65 and older will need some kind of long-term care—whether at home or in an assisted-living facility or nursing home.

But how many of them should purchase a long-term-care insurance policy? That number, it turns out, is far lower—at 19% of men and 31% of women, according to a new study published by Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research. (Women live longer on average, and so they’re statistically more likely to incur long-term-care costs.)