Help The Middle ClassNews and Information For The Heart Of America
Social Security Calls In Gov’s IOUs – A Case Of Bad Timing (Yahoo! News)
The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in this small town along the Ohio River: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration.
It’s time to start cashing them in.
For more than two decades, Social Security collected more money in payroll taxes than it paid out [...]
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 [...]
SECURITY FRAUD: When You Should, Shouldn’t Give Out Your Social Security Number (Creditcard.com)
Your Social Security number is one of the keys to your financial health. It’s a unique indentifier lenders use to assess your creditworthiness. It’s also exactly what a would-be thief needs to apply for a credit card, mortgage, car loan or job in your name.
If you’re like most Americans, it’s also something you give out [...]
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 [...]
Obama Tells Banks: ‘We Want Our Money Back’ (Atlanta Business News)
President Barack Obama told banks Thursday they should pay a new tax to recoup the cost of bailing out foundering firms at the height of the financial crisis. “We want our money back,” he said.
In a brief appearance with advisers at the White House, Obama branded the latest round of bank bonuses as “obscene.” But [...]
States Ready to ‘Tighten Belts’ In 2010 (USA Today)
States across the nation begin the year facing grim budget shortfalls that could mean a repeat of the service cuts, layoffs or furloughs and higher fees imposed in 2009, a USA TODAY survey shows.
States passed fiscal 2010 general-fund budgets totaling $627.9 billion, 5.4% less than a year earlier, says a study released last month by [...]
10 Ways To Dump Your Debt In 2010
A great deal has changed in the past year, and even more has changed over the decade since we ushered in 2000. I recall that the world as we knew it might have ended due to us being unprepared for the dreaded Y2K bug, lurking in our computer networks!
Well, that never materialized and neither did [...]
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 [...]
Unions and Critics Say Health Care Tax Will Hit Middle Class Workers ‘Hard’
A proposed tax on high-cost, or “Cadillac,” health insurance plans has touched off a fierce clash between the Senate and the House as they wrestle over how to pay for legislation that would provide health benefits to millions of uninsured Americans.
Supporters, including many senators, say that the tax is essential to tamping down medical spending [...]
CNN SPECIAL REPORT: We’re Broke….Obama Advisors Urge New Value Added Tax (VAT) – Middle Class Will Take The Hit
President Obama has been steadfast in his pledge that he won’t raise taxes on those making less than $250,000. But that doesn’t mean only high-income households will be subject to higher taxes.
An increasing number of influential Democrats and fiscal-policy experts have signaled that lawmakers will have to get a handle on the deficit. And they [...]
