Headlines about "Social Security - benefits, incl. coverage"
Gathered from the web by the editors at BenefitsLink.com.
Some Early Retirees Have Second Thoughts
Excerpt: "Many older Boomers . . . say they're willing to accept a smaller payout in exchange for an opportunity to retire while they're still young enough to enjoy it. But recent retirees who had expected to supplement Social Security with their savings have seen their investments decimated by the stock market's nose dive. Their home equity has evaporated. And rising prices for gasoline, airfares and groceries threaten to shred their retirement budgets." (USA TODAY)
Heterogeneity in Health and Mortality Risk Among Early Retiree Men
Excerpt: "This paper finds substantial heterogeneity among early retirees in health and mortality risks related to the age at which they become entitled to Social Security benefits. Early retirees consist of (1) a group in extremely poor health, (2) a group with health equal to age-65 retirees, and (3) a group with health in between that of the first two groups. The majority of early retirees are in poorer health and have higher mortality risk than that of age-65 retirees, and only a minority have health and mortality risks as good as that of age-65 retirees." (U.S. Social Security Administration via Social Science Research Network)
A Guide to Starting Social Security Benefits
Excerpt: "This article explains the various factors at play in determining the optimum starting point, including: longevity considerations; spousal implications, whether for a previously employed or a previously unemployed spouse; the impact of post-retirement employment; the availability of health insurance prior to Medicare eligibility for the worker and the worker's spouse; alternative sources of retirement income, including distributions from retirement savings plan assets and lifetime liquidation of nonretirement assets (and the pertinent income tax ramifications); and anticipated investment strategies." (Social Science Research Network)
SSA's International Update, August 2008
Recent developments in foreign public and private pensions. (U.S. Social Security Administration)
Double-Dipping Social Security
Excerpt: "A Social Security provision allows retirees to reapply for their benefits. Form 521 (Request for Withdrawal of Application) as well as IRS provisions permit an individual to: Repay the Social Security retirement benefits received with no interest charged; Claim an income tax credit for past Social Security benefit taxes paid; or Deduct the amount of the benefits that have been taxed from taxable income (if itemizing)." (National Center for Policy Analysis)
Economists Underscore Risks of 'Age Inflation'
Excerpt: "While there has been growing talk of the aging of America, two National Bureau of Economic Research economists have now coined a term for it: 'age inflation,' The Wall Street Journal reports. The government and individuals alike will be in for a rude awakening, warn John Shoven and Gopi Shah Goda. As it stands, the number of people eligible for Social Security is going to increase by 20% by 2050, as Baby Boomers retire. But that number will actually be far higher, due to ever-increasing life expectancies." (On Wall Street)
Updated Long-Term Projections for Social Security, Updated August 2008
The paper presents the Potential Range of Scheduled Social Security Outlays and Revenues. The target page links to the 45-page report, the director's blog on the paper, and supplemental data. (U.S. Congressional Budget Office)
[Opinion] Professionals Should Not Have to Put Their Social Security Benefits at Risk When They Become Teachers
Excerpt: "Under little-known provisions of the Social Security Act, people who make mid-career switches to teaching or certain other public-sector work can lose a significant portion of their federal retirement benefits. The rules don't affect people who paid into Social Security for a full 30 years, but they do cut into the benefits of those who make the switch earlier. Even if a teacher's spouse has paid into Social Security for three decades, survivor benefits for the teacher would be reduced." (Los Angeles Times)
[Opinion] Happy 73rd Birthday, Social Security
Excerpt: "Social Security has survived another year. In at least one important policy area, good sense has triumphed over ideology. We have not shredded the safety net in a celebration of rugged individualism. We have not promised to transfer resources from the poor to the rich, from women to men, from the old to the young. In a curiously American drama, 'liberal' commitment to tried and true policy has beaten back the 'conservative' drive for radical change. We can only hope that this liberal caution will mark the next president's policy . . . ." (The Century Foundation)
[Opinion] Why Today's Young Workers Should Be Confident About the Social Security Program's Future
Excerpt: "The bottom line is that Social Security is in good shape -- we should all be so lucky at age 73. Changes to shore up the program's financing and make it more progressive are warranted, but there is no crisis, and certainly no need to rush to dramatic reform." (The Economic Policy Institute)
Social Security Benefits and the 'Windfall Elimination Provision'
Excerpt: "Most people would love to have a financial windfall. A chunk of unexpected money that appears out of nowwhere. But there is another kind of windfall. It is a formula that can eat into the Social Security benefit anticipated by tens of thousands of long-time (CSRS) federal workers, school teachers and employees of some nonprofits. It also takes a huge chunk out of the Social Security benefits received each month by millions of retired federal and postal workers." (Federal News Radio)
Deciding Whether to Work While Collecting Social Security
Excerpt: "A person must make two primary decisions about receiving Social Security benefits. First, should one start receiving benefits before reaching the full retirement age? Second, if benefits are started early, should one continue working? This article examines the factors that need to be weighed in making the second decision." (New York State Society of CPAs)
Getting Social Security Disability Payments Can Be a Fight to The Death
Excerpt: "The crest of baby boomers has reached prime age for disabilities and now slams Social Security offices." (AARP)
A Guide to Starting Social Security Benefits
Excerpt: "When a person should begin taking Social Security retirement benefits is a critical question for planning one's retirement. This article explains the various factors at play in determining the optimum starting point, including: longevity considerations; spousal implications, whether for a previously employed or a previously unemployed spouse; the impact of post-retirement employment; the availability of health insurance prior to Medicare eligibility for the worker and the worker's spouse; alternative sources of retirement income, including distributions from retirement savings plan assets and lifetime liquidation of nonretirement assets (and the pertinent income tax ramifications); and anticipated investment strategies." (Social Science Research Network)
[Guidance Overview] COBRA Was Required for Former Employee Receiving Social Security Disability Benefits
Excerpt: "Medicare entitlement can affect an individual's COBRA rights in several different ways, and keeping all the rules straight is not an easy task. This case illustrates that one source of confusion can be the various benefit programs that the SSA operates. As this court explains, receipt of Social Security disability benefits does not justify a failure to provide COBRA." (Employee Benefits Institute of America)
[Guidance Overview] SSA's International Update on Recent Developments in Foreign Public and Private Pensions, July 2008
2 pages. (U.S. Social Security Administration)
The Social Security Retirement Benefits Estimator
Excerpt: "The Retirement Estimator produces estimates that are based on your actual Social Security earnings record." (U.S. Social Security Administration)
[Guidance Overview] HEART Act Changes Social Security Tax Rules for Foreign Entities' Employees Working on U.S. Gov't Contracts
Excerpt: "Section 302 of the HEART Act adds a sixth type of American employer: entities that are part of a domestically controlled group of entities and that employ any U.S. citizen or resident who performs services in connection with a contract between the U.S. government (including instrumentalities) and any member of the domestically controlled group of entities." (Deloitte via BenefitsLink.com)
Are the Wealthy Deserving of Social Security Benefits?
Excerpt: "Sheila Reich of Boca Raton raises an interesting point in her letter to a Florida paper: 'Why are we allowing millionaires to collect Social Security checks? They certainly don't need the money. Why can't we ask them to choose not to receive their monthly check?'" (NewsDay)
Work Past Retirement Age? Avoid Pitfalls and Penalties
Excerpt: "[Sen.] Kohl's bill - the Incentives for Older Workers Act - would address both the pension and Social Security issues. It would prohibit pension plans from penalizing individuals for continuing to work on a reduced schedule, and it would revise the Social Security benefit reduction to $1 for every $3 earned before the NRA." (NewsDay)
[Guidance Overview] Counterclaim for Disability Benefits Properly Framed in Terms of Sereboff Prerequisites
Excerpt: "Professor Roger Baron calls our attention to another recent counterclaim case in which the district court got the analysis right. The case is Killian v. Johnson & Johnson, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49580 (D.N.J. June 23, 2008). In that case the defendant in a claim for benefits case filed a counterclaim, asserting that social security benefits received by the plaintiff should have been offset from disability benefits paid to her - resulting in her actually owing the plan, on the defendant's theory, some $45,000." (Health Plan Law blog by Attorney Roy F. Harmon III)
[Opinion] A Retirement Income Solution - Create a Senior Class of Worker
Excerpt: "To get back to the real world, employers will need incentives to hire older workers. So here's my plan, inspired in part by this article in last Sunday's New York Times: create a 'senior class' of employee for those 62 and up. Employers would no longer have to contribute their share of Social Security taxes for such employees 62 and over -- although employees would continue contributing their share and continue to earn credit for paying into the system." (Investment News; free registration required)
[Opinion] It's Time to Reform Retirement-Age Requirements
Excerpt: "Actuaries in Washington State have made public a 'dirty little secret' in the pension world: Retirees are living longer. While that seems like a statement of the obvious, it's not. Pension plans have blinders on when it comes to thinking about how long employees will live. Unless something is done about it, taxpayers alone will pay the price." (Governing.com)
SSA's International Update, June 2008
Excerpt: "This monthly publication covers recent developments in foreign private and public pensions, social security, and retirement." (U.S. Social Security Administration)
How Changes in Social Security Affect Recent Retirement Trends
Excerpt: "According to CPS data, men 65 to 69 were about six percentage points less likely to be retired in 2004 than in 1992. CPS and Health and Retirement Study (HRS) data indicate a corresponding difference of 3 percentage points between 1998 and 2004. Simulations with a structural retirement model suggest changes in Social Security rules between 1992 and 2004 increased full time work of 65 to 67 year old married men by a little under 2 percentage points, about a 9 percent increase, and increased their labor force participation by between 1.4 and 2.2 percentage points, or 2 to 4 percent, depending on age." (National Bureau of Economic Research; paid subscription or individual purchase required to retrieve fulltext)
For a Good Retirement, Find Work, or Keep Your Job
Excerpt: "Waiting, and working longer . . . is the wiser and more financially responsible choice for most people. A person who retires at 66 will pocket a monthly Social Security check that is one-third higher than if that person retired at 62." (The New York Times; free registration required)
[Guidance Overview] DOJ releases opinion interpreting Social Security Act in way that will benefit families headed by same sex couples in some states
Excerpt: "Although the opinion was about Social Security health insurance benefits, it may apply to other federal statutes and regs worded in the same way. (And so may reach federal employees or other insurance programs--thus the tie-in to the workplace)." (Workplace Prof Blog)
Transcript of Online Chat on Retirement Planning Issues
Excerpt: "Washington Post columnist Martha M. Hamilton was online Tuesday, June 17 at Noon ET for her final chat to answer questions about financial planning for retirement. She was joined by Teresa Ghilarducci, economist and author of 'When I'm Sixty-Four: The Plot Against Pensions and the Plan to Save Them.'" (The Washington Post; free registration required)
Retirement Income Withdrawal Mistakes to Avoid
Excerpt: "The general idea is that retirees who anticipate long payout periods should plan on lower withdrawal rates. If there are fixed rate assets in the portfolio, these increase the success for low to mid-level withdrawal rates." (The National Underwriter Company; free registration or paid subscription required)
Working Past Retirement Age Can Pose Problems
Excerpt: "[W]hat workers with defined-benefit pensions and those who already have tapped Social Security benefits might not realize is that there are significant financial disincentives that make working into retirement age a tricky proposition." (The Wall Street Journal via The Dallas Morning News)
What the 2008 Trustees' Reports Tell Us About the Financial Status of Social Security and Medicare: Some Implications for Plan Sponsors
Excerpt: "This article reviews briefly the results of this year's reports and comments on their implications for employer sponsors of retirement and health plans." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Strange, but True: Unusual Strategies for Claiming Social Security Benefits (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "This document describes three unusual, but allowable, strategies for claiming Social Security benefits." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)
Are People Claiming Social Security Benefits Later? (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "This brief analyzes trends in claim behavior over time using SSA data for both claim year and cohort distributions. It finds that the cohort data, unlike the claim year data, show that the share of people claiming Social Security retirement benefits when they attain age 62 has been falling since the mid-1990s. This decline in people claiming early benefits found in cohort data is fully consistent with the increase in labor force participation at older ages." (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)
Women, Marriage, and Social Security Benefits Revisited (PDF)
Excerpt: "Introduced into the Social Security program in 1939, spouse and survivor benefits have important implications for the retirement experience of women. At the end of 2005, 12.9 million women Social Security beneficiaries aged 62 or older (59 percent) received at least part of their benefit as wives or widows of entitled workers." (U.S. Social Security Administration)
Forecasting Labor Force Participation and Economic Resources of the Early Baby Boomers
Excerpt: "This paper forecasts the retirement patterns and resources of the Early Baby Boomers by estimating forward-looking dynamic models of labor force participation, wealth accumulation and pension and Social Security benefit claiming for older workers using seven waves of HRSdata. The two most important innovations of our proposed approach are the use of alternative measures of pension entitlements and the associated incentives, and accounting for subjective expectations about future work. Our main findings are that the Early Baby Boomers will work longer and claim Social Security later." (Michigan Retirement Research Center)
Retirement in India: Pension Benefits and Beyond
Excerpt: "This article provides an overview of retirement benefits in India and examines relevant issues that are important from an employer's point of view. It covers income replacement ratio, the fringe benefit tax (FBT), and the challenges that employers are facing." (Mercer LLC)
Social Security Administration Adds Retirement Estimator to Web-based Benefits Calculators Suite
Excerpt: "The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced May 12 that it intends to add a new calculator to its suite of online Benefits Calculators. The Retirement Estimator, will allow individuals to estimate potential retirement benefits in real time, based partly on their SSA-maintained records and partly on user-entered information." (Hewitt Associates)
[Opinion] Building on Social Security's Success - The Retirement Debate
Excerpt: "Social Security is an excellent tool to meet the economic risks working families face. Given its proven track record, wise policy will balance Social Security finances without cutting benefits and then seek to restore the adequacy of benefits." (Virginia P. Reno via The Wall Street Journal)
Growing Disparities in Life Expectancy - Effects on Social Security and Private Retirement Plans
Excerpt: "Aside from the obvious individual detrimental effects of the longevity gap, CBO's 'Growing Disparities in Life Expectancy' study found this gap could have considerable adverse effects on the solvency of Social Security and Medicare. CBO's study notes that increasing longevity has clear effects on Social Security and Medicare expenditures by increasing their costs." (Deloitte via BenefitsLink.com)
[Opinion] The Age of Tinkering with the Framework of Entitlements Has Begun
Excerpt: "The age of guaranteed benefits is hardly over, but anxiety over the fraying of the safety net -- private as well as public -- is palpable. It is true that not one of the three White House contenders has offered a comprehensive solution. And except for Barack Obama's proposal that the wealthy pay more in payroll taxes, none have been so bold as to suggest that the government meet its entitlement obligations by raising its take on them. But each has suggested some intriguing fixes that, while differing in the details, all seek to alleviate the entitlement problem by stimulating individual savings." (The New York Times; free registration required)
[Opinion] Social Security and Medicare Projections: 2008
Excerpt: "The 2008 Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports show the combined unfunded liability of these two programs has reached $101.7 trillion in today's dollars! That is more than seven times the size of the U.S. economy and 10 times the size of the outstanding national debt. The unfunded liability is the difference between the benefits that have been promised to retirees and what will be collected in dedicated taxes and Medicare premiums." (National Center for Policy Analysis)
Why You Shouldn't Retire Early
Excerpt: "Retiring early will also limit your Social Security check and pension benefits. You can visit this calculator at the Social Security website to estimate your benefit -- and how it changes depending on when you retire. Delaying your retirement a few years might make a material difference in the money you have available for all of those daydreams." (The Motley Fool)
Pitfalls of Working Past Retirement Age
Excerpt: "[W]orkers with defined-benefit pensions and those who already have tapped Social Security benefits might not realize is that there are significant financial disincentives that make working into retirement age a tricky proposition." (The Wall Street Journal)
SSA's Annual Statistical Supplement, 2007
Printed copies of this document are scheduled for release in mid-May 2008. (U.S. Social Security Administration)
The Plan to Save Early Retirement - Economist Teresa Ghilarducci Argues We Needn't Be Chained to Our Desks Forever
Excerpt: "Teresa Ghilarducci isn't one for conventional wisdom. In her upcoming book, 'When I'm Sixty-Four: The Plot Against Pensions and the Plan to Save Them,' the New School University economist argues that a rich nation ought to be able to ensure a secure old age. And she has a radical proposal for making that happen." (Money Magazine via CNNMoney.com)
Growing Disparities in Life Expectancy (PDF)
6 pages. Excerpt: "Increasing longevity, by itself, has clear implications for Social Security and Medicare expenditures. As beneficiaries live longer, they will receive benefits for a longer period, putting additional pressure on the programs' finances." (U.S. Congressional Budget Office)
New Social Security System Now in Place in Panama
Excerpt: "A new social security system, with components of both traditional defined benefit (DB) pensions and defined contribution (DC) retirement accounts, began operating on January 1, 2008. Employers and employees are paying higher contributions to fund the new system." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
International Update, April 2008, Recent Developments in Foreign Public and Private Pensions (PDF)
2 pages. Excerpt: "International Update is a monthly publication of the Social Security Administration's Office of Policy. It reports on the latest developments in public and private pensions worldwide." (U.S. Social Security Administration)
The Implications of Career Lengths for Social Security (PDF)
60 pages. Excerpt: "Growing fiscal pressures and increasing life expectancy have prompted calls to raise retirement ages. Some fear this change might harm long-career, lower-wage workers. Tying retirement benefit eligibility to years of service might protect low-wage workers who start their careers early. But higher disability rates and greater employment volatility could offset lower-wage workers' early labor force starts. Using survey data matched to administrative records, we describe how work histories vary by gender, education, and other characteristics. We find that years of service are not likely to effectively protect the lowest-wage workers, as those with the least education also work the least." (Urban Institute)
Walnut Creek, CA Part-Time Workers Have to Decide on Apple Program That Is Alternative to Social Security
Excerpt: "This month, about 175 part-time and temporary Walnut Creek employees must decide whether to continue contributing to Social Security or take an alternative retirement program. All new part-time and temporary employees who work less than 1,000 hours a year will have no choice: They will be enrolled in a deferred compensation plan that takes effect May 30." (Contra Costa Times)
[Opinion] How Immigrants Saved Social Security
Excerpt: "Immigration is good for the financial health of Social Security because more workers mean more tax revenue. Illegal immigration, it turns out, is even better than legal immigration. In the fine print of the 2008 annual report on Social Security, released last week, the program's trustees noted that growing numbers of 'other than legal' workers are expected to bolster the program over the coming decades. One reason is that many undocumented workers pay taxes during their work lives but don't collect benefits later." (The New York Times; free registration required)
In Argentina, Retirement Benefits and Contributions to Social Security Increased
Excerpt: "Employers must withhold more social security contributions from employees' paychecks according to a presidential decree of February 21, 2008. The decree also set new maximum and minimum levels for retirement benefits paid by the government." (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
International Social Security Update, March 2008
Excerpt: "International Update is a monthly publication of the Social Security Administration's Offi ce of Retirement and Disability Policy. It reports on the latest developments in public and private pensions worldwide." (U.S. Social Security Administration)
Insurers Faulted for Overloading Social Security with Disability Claims
Excerpt: "The Social Security system is choking on paperwork and spending millions of dollars a year screening dubious applications for disability benefits, according to lawsuits filed by whistle-blowers. Insurance companies are the source of the problem, the lawsuits say. The insurers are forcing many people who file disability claims with them to also apply to Social Security -- even people who clearly do not qualify for the government program." (The New York Times; free registration required)
Congress in no rush to fix Medicare and Social Security
Excerpt: "Lawmakers are preparing to get serious about the long-term solvency of America's Social Security and Medicare programs – but not until the next Congress convenes. The latest annual report on the prospects for Social Security and Medicare projects a $42.9 trillion shortfall over the next 75 years, at current levels of benefits and taxation. The message Congress is taking away from the report is that there's still time to build bipartisan consensus for reform." (The Christian Science Monitor)
[Guidance Overview] International Update on Social Security, February 2008
Excerpt: "International Update is a monthly publication of the Social Security Administration's Office of Policy. It reports on the latest developments in public and private pensions worldwide." (U.S. Social Security Administration)
[Opinion] Lock Them in a Room and Require Entitlement Reform
Excerpt: "Based on the current growth rate of entitlement costs -- $2 trillion per year under a 75-year time horizon and $12 trillion per year if measured on a permanent basis -- wouldn't it be smarter not to wait for next year's lawmakers to show up? Given the massive electoral advantages incumbents enjoy, most of them will probably be the same people, anyway. Why not lock them all up in a room this year -- let's say next Thursday -- until they can come to agreement on how to balance entitlement program finances, even if only for the next 75 years?" (American Spectator (Online) via Cato Institute)
[Opinion] Social Security - Still Alive and Kicking
Excerpt: "This year, as happens every year, when the Trustees' Report on Social Security and Medicare is released, commentators seized on the forecasts to proclaim imminent disaster and called for privatization of Social Security. In fact, the official forecasts, released yesterday, differ only marginally from those of 2007. The report underlines that we need to solve problems in these safety net programs. But there is no imminent Social Security crisis; in fact, the outlook is marginally better than it was a year ago." (Bernard Wasow via takingnote.tcf.org)
Social Security Programs Throughout the World: The Americas, 2007
Excerpt: "This fourth issue in the current four-volume series of Social Security Programs Throughout the World reports on the countries of the Americas. The combined findings of this series, which also includes volumes on Europe, Asia and the Pacific, and Africa, are published at 6-month intervals over a 2-year period. Each volume highlights features of social security programs in the particular region." (U.S. Social Security Administration)
Outlook Remains Bleak for Two U.S. Social Insurance Programs
Excerpt: "The Bush administration issued a grim report [yesterday] on the financial outlook for Medicare and Social Security, but said the condition of the programs had not significantly deteriorated since last spring." (The New York Times; free registration required)
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