Pay off an existing mortgage. When you make additional principal payments on an outstanding mortgage balance, the lower balance will save you interest expense. If you have an amortized fixed-rate mortgage, the monthly amount of the payment doesn't change. With the additional principal payments the loan balance declines and more of your monthly payment goes toward the repayment of principal. You will repay the loan faster than the stated loan term on your contract. You can find mortgage calculators online, to help you determine how extra principal payments reduce your mortgage interest expense and the remaining loan term. When considering pre-paying your mortgage, consider the rates of return. If you were to save the extra cash in a savings account or CD, your rate of return currently is quite low and prepaying your mortgage may give you a better return based on the interest rate of your loan. Financial advisors, however, generally recommend that you pay off your mortgage out of income, and not cash from your retirement accounts. Your retirement accounts provide you with a savings cushion, that most seniors will need later in retirement, and they are protected from creditors..National mail order contract suppliers can't charge you more than any unmet deductible and 20 percent coinsurance. To find a contract supplier for your area, call, or visit /supplierdirectory. The online tool will allow you to select the type of supplies you need and provides a complete list of mail order suppliers and their phone numbers serving your area..By U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger.Simply setting government spending limits and putting seniors at greater risk for rising costs does nothing to slow rising healthcare costs. TSCL is sharing the results of our recent 2011 Advisor Senior Survey on healthcare costs and the inadequacy of COLAs to cover rising costs in our visits with Members of Congress. We encourage you to contact your Members of Congress and describe your Medicare and other out-of-pocket costs and what portion of your Social Security payments is required to cover them. Use examples of recent cost increases and let them know your concerns about keeping Medicare affordable!.At this point in time, it remains unclear whether congressional leaders will bring the "Budget for a Brighter American Future" to the floor for a vote, but the resolution does clearly outline the policy priorities of the majority party in the House. The Senior Citizens League will keep a close eye on the movement of the budget resolution in the weeks ahead, and we will continue to voice our opposition to policies that would jeopardize the health and financial security of older Americans. For progress updates, follow TSCL on Twitter or visit the Legislative News section of our website..As a result of the COLA projection, it is expected that Medicare's "hold harmless" policy will be applied to a majority of beneficiaries. Around 70 percent of Medicare's current enrollees will continue paying the 4.90 Part B premium in 2016 instead of the projected 9.30 monthly rate, which will be applied to new beneficiaries and some other groups.._.However, that all depends on the development of a vaccine that proves to be effective. Dr. Anthony Fauci believes that the Food and Drug Administration will approve a vaccine if it only works 50% of the time.."I make no apologies. These very, very popular entitlement programs at some point are gonna have to be adjusted."
