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benefit does not cover some extras like drugs, supplies and extra.TSCL's annual Senior Surveys indicate that roughly 56% of retiree households pay tax on a portion of their Social Security benefits. About the same number support reducing the taxation of Social Security benefits by lifting the threshold for taxation of Social Security benefits from ,000 to ,000 for single filers and from ,000 to 0,000 for joint filers..Supreme Court: Mandate Penalty is Tax, Jeanne Sahadi, CNN Money, June 28, 2012..The Senior Citizens League supports legislation that would help lower both taxpayer and Medicare beneficiary costs, including a House and Senate bill that would prohibit surprise medical bills, allow Medicare to negotiate the cost of prescription drugs, and cap out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs for beneficiaries. To learn more,..plans with similar coverage caps or the maximum amount that the plans will pay..How Do I Know When It's Time For Assisted Living If I Live Alone?.This week, the Social Security Administration announced that benefits will increase by 2% percent beginning in January 201In addition, The Senior Citizens League announced its support for one new bill that would improve the integrity of the Social Security program..COLAs became automatic with the one that became payable on July 1, 1975 and continued to average 8.7% annually from 1975 through 198Then the bottom seemed to fall out. From 1983 through 2009 COLAs averaged 3.1%. From 2010 to Do you see a pattern here? I do. We may never know the full details, but what we do know is that our government economists at the Bureau of Labor Statistics changed the way they measured price changes. The Consumer Price Index Handbook of the Bureau of Labor Statistics contains an extensive list of ongoing changes to their methodology in measuring price change. Since the 1980s the BLS has implemented 30 changes, and many of those changes reduce the measured rate of inflation. That in turn means slower growth in Social Security benefits over time..Inadequate COLAs have long-term consequences for both retiree finances and health. COLAs affect the amount of total lifetime Social Security income, and that in turn affects the rate of withdrawals from retirement accounts and savings, debt levels. Adequate income in retirement also determines whether individuals have the finances to pay for supplemental Medicare health premiums, out-of-pocket costs and prescription drugs.

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In addition to rapidly growing Medigap premiums, retirees also must pay for premiums for Medicare Part B and their drug plans. The combination takes a bigger bite out of Social Security benefits and other retirement resources when COLAs fail to keep pace. "The financial drain on benefits is difficult to anticipate, and many retirees don't have adequate savings to begin with," Johnson says..Progressives see expanding the popular entitlement as essential to fulfilling their campaign pledges and keeping Democratic control of the House and Senate. But the reforms threaten the bottom line of insurers who administer private Medicare plans and sell supplemental coverage for dental, vision and hearing services. Groups like the American Dental Association, worried their members will be paid less in traditional Medicare than in private Medicare plans, are also pushing to limit the new benefits to the poorest Americans..Calling it an "economic imperative," President Obama continues to call for comprehensive immigration reform that would provide a path to legal status for illegal immigrants. A day after the President outlined his plan in a speech on the border with Mexico, immigration reform legislation known as the "DREAM Act" was reintroduced in the Senate. … Continued

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The answer depends upon whether you start your benefits before or after your full retirement age - which in 2017 is 6When you start Social Security benefits before your full retirement age, you will be subject to the Social Security earnings test. The earnings test can cause Social Security to withhold your benefits if you earn more than the annual exempted amount. In addition, your initial retirement benefit will be permanently reduced, because you started Social Security prior to your full retirement age. It pays to wait until 6Here's why:.In most years, seniors receive a small increase in their Social Security checks, intended to help them keep up with rising costs. But since 2000, the Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment has increased benefits just 38 percent while typical senior expenses have jumped 81 percent, more than twice as fast. Inflation has been at historic lows in recent years and seniors received a 1.7 percent COLA this year..Members of the House passed the .1 trillion government-wide spending bill last Thursday, and after much debate, lawmakers in the Senate adopted it late on Saturday evening. Those in the House left Washington shortly after they approved the "cromnibus," while those in the Senate stayed in town for a few days to consider dozens of executive nominations and to pass a package of tax extenders. … Continued