The ASPCA website, ASPCA.org, has information, including a helpful chart that can help you estimate the costs of owning a pet..Support Grows for Key Bills.Here's a theoretical one: Let's say the undocumented immigrant parents of four U.S. -born children have lived in the U.S. for twelve years and are found eligible for work authorization and Social Security numbers. Prior to getting her Social Security number, the mother worked as a housekeeper and was paid in cash. No taxes were paid into Social Security or Medicare. Because none were paid, and no wages were reported, the mother does not have any Social Security coverage yet..Here's an example of how it might work for you if you receive ,400 from your 401 and ,600 from your IRA. To figure your provisional income, take one - half of your Social Security = ,000. Let's say the taxable portion of your 401 is ,200, and of your IRA is the full ,600. That adds up to a provisional income of ,800 and a portion of your Social Security benefits would be taxable..Call Social Security at for more information about your Medicare eligibility and to sign up for Part A and/or Part B. You can also apply at /retirement. You can get free personalized heath insurance counseling from your State Health Insurance Assistance Program. Many of these programs operate through area agencies on aging. Check your local phone book or call the Eldercare Locator to find help in your community..The best way to protect against flu and its potentially serious complications is with a flu vaccine. CDC recommends that almost everyone 6 months of age and older get a seasonal flu vaccine each year by the end of October. However, as long as flu viruses are circulating, vaccination should continue throughout flu season, even into January or later..The tax cut, which reduced the Social Security payroll tax for employees from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent, makes the Social Security trust funds reliant on general revenues and undermines the self-funding nature of the program. Social Security is funded by payroll taxes, and currently faces a billion cash-flow deficit. Extending the tax cut could exacerbate the program's funding issues..The Social Security Administration announced today that the 2020 COLA will be just 1.6 percent, continuing the worrisome trend in which COLAs have averaged just 1.4 percent from 2000 to 20"Adequate COLAs are critical to retirement security," says Mary Johnson, a Social Security policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. "Social Security is one of the only types of retirement income that provides this essential protection against rising costs. "When a retiree's costs rise faster than their COLA, the buying power of Social Security benefits erodes, leaving people with a benefit that doesn't go as far as it did when they first retired," Johnson notes. According to research by Johnson, Social Security benefits have lost 33 percent of buying power since 2000..TSCL believes that in the lame-duck session following the November elections, Congress must prioritize the passage of legislation that would make the Social Security COLA more fair and accurate. In the weeks ahead, our legislative team will continue to advocate for the CPI-E Act, as well as for legislation like the SAVE Benefits Act, which would make up for this year's zero COLA with a one-time emergency 3.9 percent increase. For progress updates, follow TSCL on Twitter or Facebook.
