Help The Middle ClassNews and Information For The Heart Of America
RETIREMENT ALERT: 6 WAYS YOU’RE SABOTAGING YOUR RETIREMENT (SF GATE/INVESTOPEDIA)
Millions of senior citizens are discovering that they do not have adequate financial resources to retire. Some seniors are unable to retire due to the recent economic crisis and others due to poor financial habits. The stark truth is this: financial decisions that you make on a daily basis have a direct impact on your [...]
How Alzheimer’s Disease Alters Lives (USA Today)
How an Alzheimer’s caretaker’s life and challenges may evolve as their loved one’s disease progresses:
Early stage
•May notice patient is more anxious, forgets friends’ names and telephone numbers, places everyday items in the wrong storage locations, leaves projects (laundry, meals) unfinished, has trouble making change and balancing a checkbook.
* May need to take over some household [...]
FROM THE EXPERTS: In The New World Of Obamacare, Retiring Couples Need To Save At Least $250,000 For Medical Costs (Huffington Post)
Relief to seniors facing high prescription drug costs is one of the first changes to come under the new health care overhaul. But ultimately that won’t offset the relentless increase in retirees’ medical expenses.
A couple retiring this year will need a quarter of a million dollars, on average, to cover medical expenses in retirement, according [...]
How The Healthcare Overhaul Affects Medicare (Reuters)
The sweeping healthcare overhaul the U.S. House of Representatives approved on Sunday includes about $455 billion in spending cuts for Medicare and other federal health programs over the next 10 years.
Here are some questions and answers about how the reforms will affect the Medicare healthcare program for the elderly.
WILL THE LEGISLATION CUT MEDICARE BENEFITS?
There are [...]
NEW LAW: Social Security Turns ‘Bill Collector’ – Defaulted Loans May Haunt Seniors (Wall Street Journal)
A little-noticed law could soon result in smaller Social Security checks for hundreds of thousands of the elderly and disabled who owe the U.S. money from defaulted loans and other debts more than a decade old.
Social Security benefits are off-limits to creditors, such as credit-card companies and banks. But the U.S. can collect debts to [...]
Retirement Savings In Danger – Most Americans Unprepared (CNN.com)
The percentage of American workers with virtually no retirement savings grew for the third straight year, according to a survey released Tuesday.
The percentage of workers who said they have less than $10,000 in savings grew to 43% in 2010, from 39% in 2009, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s annual Retirement Confidence Survey. That [...]
Senate Rejects $250.00 Bonus For Seniors (Reuters/Los Angeles Examiner)
A measure to give older adults, veterans, and persons with disabilities a $250 check has been rejected by the Senate in a vote of 50-to-47. The payments would have added $13 billion to a $108 billion job-creation package pending in the Senate. Congress approved payments last year as part of the $862 billion stimulus package.
Seniors [...]
5 Reasons You Should Consider a Roth IRA (US News and World Report)
When it comes to opening an individual retirement account, should you go with a traditional IRA or a Roth? Traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs have their own unique benefits, but new rules in 2010 allow some investors who had been locked out of Roth IRAs the option to take advantage of Roth’s tax-free withdrawals. Whether [...]
RETIREMENT NEWS: Top Places To Retire In America (CNBC)
As the Baby Boomer generation begins to hit retirement age, millions will be searching for places to retire. So what’s the best location to settle down? The answer to that question is just as diverse as the needs, desires and expectations of Boomers themselves.
Although certain destinations may be particularly attractive – for reasons ranging from [...]
When To Start Taking Social Security (Yahoo! Marketwatch)
Calculating the best age to take Social Security benefits is tricky, but critical.
Many Americans take Social Security early, at age 62, because they really need it. They’re in poor health or unemployed or both. Others take benefits early because they’re worried they’ll lose out on what’s rightfully theirs if benefits are reduced. But few people [...]
