From Bob Blancato, NA; Forbes ~ Dec 09, 2014

Next year will be important and symbolic for aging programs and services, as we celebrate the 80th anniversary of Social Security, the 50th anniversaries of Medicare and Medicaid and the fifth anniversary of the Affordable Care Act.

Another reason to celebrate in 2015: the 50th anniversary of the Older Americans Act.

This law has provided millions of adults with much-needed services. Currently, one in five older adults — 11 million people — receive services from an Older Americans Act program. I hope the anniversary will be the opportunity to give this remarkable law its due recognition while charting its future path.

By Rachel Stoltzfoos; The Daily Caller ~ Dec 09, 2014

Rather than address the grim financial realities of Social Security, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing Tuesday to figure out how to strengthen the program for women, who on average receive fewer benefits than men.

“I particularly appreciate Senator Hatch and Senator Wyden’s theme of this hearing,” Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown said. “That the debate over Social Security shouldn’t be how much we cut from the program to balance the budget, shouldn’t be about raising the retirement age, shouldn’t be about limiting benefits.”

A panel of four women — an Oregon woman struggling to live off of Social Security, a George Mason professor of public policy, a representative from the American Academy of Actuaries and the chair of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare — testified about the unique struggles women face in retirement.

From Jamie Hopkins; Forbes ~ Dec 08, 2014

Retirement planning can be extremely difficult as individuals are tasked with planning for an uncertain time period. In many ways, retirement planning is like trying to shoot a moving target in the wind. Each and every year new legislation, court cases, and market conditions impact retirement planning. 2014 was no different. The retirement planning market saw an influx of new financial products, the sun setting on certain financial products, a changing investment market, and a variety of legal changes. However, there were five changes that occurred in 2014 that everyone planning for retirement needs to know about: 1) decreased creditor protection for inherited IRAs; 2) introduction of qualified longevity annuities to 401(k)s; 3) a reduction in the number of IRA to IRA rollovers; 4) increased access to annuities in target date funds; and 5) the creation of the myRA. While all of these topics can be fairly complex, a brief overview of each is warranted in this article.

By David Espo & Andrew Taylor; The Associated Press ~ Dec 08, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) — Key lawmakers weighed legislation to permit a reduction of benefits for up to 1 million retirees at economically distressed multiemployer pension plans, officials said late Monday as Congress labored over a $1.1 trillion measure to keep the government operating past midnight Thursday.

The officials said the goal of the secretive pension talks was to preserve benefits as much as possible and avert bankruptcies at troubled plans that could in turn endanger the stability of the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.

By Alexis Leondis; Bloomberg ~ Dec 08, 2014

Bill Braswell is staying put in his Virginia home even though he could sell it for 10 times what he paid in 1980 and some of his retired friends are moving to warmer climates.

“I’m on boards and commissions and I enjoy that brain activity, so no, I don’t want to move to South Carolina or Florida,” said Braswell, 69, a retired federal civil servant, who lives alone in a four-bedroom Tudor home in Arlington. “I’m thinking of putting an elevator in so I can stay.”

Older homeowners have emerged as the pillar of the housing market following the collapse in 2008. The homeownership rate for Americans age 65 and over has remained at 80 percent while dropping for every other age group. Seniors typically have less mortgage debt than younger homeowners, more wealth than they had four years ago, and longer lifespans than a generation ago. So they’re staying in the housing market rather than downsizing into rentals or moving to independent senior centers.

By Emily Chasan, Updated Sept. 6, 2014 5:35 p.m. ET

AT&T Inc. has received tentative approval from the U.S. Labor Department to contribute up to $9.5 billion of preferred equity to its pension plan, a move that would bring the plan close to fully funded status.

In a “notice of proposed exemption” posted Friday, the department said AT&T could be allowed to exceed federal limits on stock contributions to pension plans. Equity contributions are limited because they expose plans to concentrated risks if a company’s stock loses value. The preferred stock would comprise about 18% of the assets in AT&T’s pension fund.

The Labor Department added some conditions it believes are in the best interest of plan participants and the proposal is open for public comment. If formally approved, the contribution would made retroactive to Sept. 1.

The telecommunication giant’s pension was underfunded by about $13.9 billion at the end of last year. AT&T filed for the exemption last October and said it hoped to get approval by the end of this year.

“This is an important step toward allowing us to move forward with our contribution,” an AT&T spokeswoman said, noting the company’s pension plan covers 600,000 current and former employees.

The proposed contribution, which involves preferred equity from AT&T’s wireless business, would allow the firm to keep cash for other purposes and lower its tax bill, while giving the pension plan future annual distributions of $560 million.

About 89% of Standard & Poor’s 500 companies that offer pension plans were estimated to have underfunded plans as of July, according to an analysis by International Strategy & Investment Group analyst David Zion.

At the end of last year, AT&T had $58.9 billion in pension obligations, while the fair value of its plan assets was $45.1 billion.

Under its proposal, AT&T will contribute 320 million preferred shares valued at $8 billion, but with dividends the company says they are worth a total of up to $9.5 billion.

When AT&T proposed the contribution, UBS AG estimated that the contribution would lower AT&T’s cash taxes by about $3 billion in the year it was approved, because employer pension contributions are deductible expenses.

By Michael Hiltzik; Los Angeles Times ~ Dec 05, 2014

• Why is Congress moving so fast to ambush retired workers?
• A congressional ‘fix’ for multiemployer pensions will screw retirees–so why is it being rammed through?

Passing legislation on a tight deadline–especially a bogus deadline–is invariably a formula for serious mischief. That’s what’s happening with a proposal to deal with a supposed crisis in worker pensions by allowing trustees to slash the pensions of already-retired workers to shreds.

Members of the House Education and the Workforce Committee are trying to slip the measure into an omnibus spending bill to be passed before Dec. 11, when Congress leaves Washington for its vacation recess. Pension advocates are up in arms, not least because the measure’s actual language hasn’t been made public. (It’s still in negotiation, committee staffers say.) What is known is that it would change four decades of labor law in a way that mostly affects the oldest and most vulnerable workers.

By Mark Miller; Reuters ~ Dec 04, 2014

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Imagine boarding a jet and heading for your seat, only to be told you’re needed in the cockpit to fly the plane.

Investing expert William Bernstein argued in a recent interview that what has happened in our workplace retirement system over the past 30 years is analogous. We’ve shifted from defined benefit pension plans managed by professional financial pilots to 401(k) plans controlled by passengers.

Once, employers made the contributions, investment pros handled the investments and the income part was simple: You retired, the checks started arriving and continued until you died. Now, you decide how much to invest, where to invest it and how to draw it down. In other words, you fuel the plane, you pilot the plane and you land it.

By Elizabeth O’Brien; MarketWatch ~ Dec 04, 2014

Many folks say they don’t want to live with the infirmities they see their loved ones suffer in old age. When it’s my turn, they’ll tell anyone who will listen, just put me out of my misery.

Here’s the thing, though: When a late-life health crisis does finally arrive, “I don’t know many people in the middle of it who say, ‘Take me out back and shoot me,’” said Dr. Sharon Brangman, chief of geriatrics at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y. “They want to know, what are my chances?”

Many people make so-called advance directives when they’re in their prime, outlining the medical interventions they would want or refuse in situations when they’re not able to speak for themselves. But after a serious medical diagnosis, or after decades have passed, those directives don’t always still match the wishes of the people who wrote them.

By Bonnie Lee; Fox Business ~ Dec 04, 2014

I got a call last week from a woman who opened a small publishing company this year. She wanted to know if it was advisable for her to have a professional prepare her income tax return or “should I just get all the forms and instructions and do it myself?”

I was surprised by the question. After all, there are more than 75,000 pages of tax code and the tax laws become much more complex when one becomes self-employed. Many number-savvy individuals will look at Schedule C where sole proprietors list their income and business expenses and think that it’s a slam dunk to do it themselves. After all, there’s a line for listing your sales then there are fields in which to list the various business expenses incurred during the year. Add up the expenses, subtract the total from sales and you’re done, right?