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These 5 Healthcare Culprits Cost $1 Trillion

Excerpt: CNNMoney.com spoke to health care experts about hidden health culprits that are adding billions of dollars to our medical bills. We love salt.... We love sugar.... Dangers of alcohol.... Smoking.... Pollution.

How to Protect Your Retirement Savings from a Crash

"[1] Check that your investments are aligned with your risk tolerance ... [2] Don't invest anything you'll need within five years ... [3] Eliminate as much debt as possible ... [4] Prepare for the worst."

State Retirement Saving Plans Could Be Over Before They Start

"California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington have all approved plans and are working on rolling them out.... But the House passed two resolutions [on Feb. 15] which -- if also approved by the Senate -- would ... overturn rules that exempted state-sponsored plans from having to comply with [ERISA], which sets minimum standards for retirement plan providers."

Fully Repealing Obamacare Will Cost $350 Billion

"Obamacare ... affects the federal budget in three ways: coverage provisions, taxes and fees, and Medicare components.... Getting rid of all three would blow a hole in the budget even before Republicans come up with a replacement plan, which will also need to be funded."

Failing Central States Pension Fund Is Out of Options

" 'The fact that the ... PBGC is also running out of money means our participants may see their pension benefits ultimately reduced to virtually nothing when the fund runs out of money,' [fund director Thomas Nyhan said in a letter to workers and retirees]. Only government funding, either to the Central States Fund directly or through the PBGC, can fix the problem, he said."

Pension Fund May Cut Benefits for 273,000 Workers and Retirees

"The proposal, which still needs approval from the Treasury Department, will spare retirees age 80 or older from any cuts as well as anyone receiving disability protections. And reductions would be less severe for those older than 75 or widows and widowers receiving spousal benefits. While they vary, cuts will average about 23% and could happen as soon as July."

CVS Discontinuing Coverage of Some Popular Prescription Drugs

"CVS is dropping more than two dozen prescription drugs from its list of covered medicines for 2016, including Viagra. The drugs will still be sold at CVS/pharmacy stores, but customers who carry prescription benefit insurance with CVS/Caremark will no longer receive coverage for them. CVS said the medicines dropped from the list of drugs the company covers all have cheaper equivalents that are still covered by its insurance plan."

What I Learned About My 401(k): A Twenty-Something's Guide

"[F]ind out how much of your income your company will match.... Set up automatic increases.... Don't be afraid of stocks.... Know what it's costing you.... Think before you quit."

Fake Enrollees Keep Getting Obamacare Subsidies

"The [GAO] last summer announced that it had created 12 fake identities and 11 were able to sign up for coverage, qualifying for a total of $2,500 a month in subsidies.... An update to the probe found that all 11 enrollees had their coverage automatically extended for 2015.... Six policyholders had their coverage terminated a few months later because they did not submit the necessary documentation. But GAO investigators were able to get five enrollees reinstated after talking to Healthcare.gov phone representatives. The representatives also increased the enrollees' subsidies by a total of $1,000 for the year. The application of the sixth policyholder is still pending."

Is Your Target Date Fund Ripping You Off?

"[A]nnual returns can vary dramatically -- even for investors of identical ages -- and some funds can carry sky-high fees, according to an analysis of more than 1,700 target-date funds conducted by online financial advisor FutureAdvisor.... Among all the funds it analyzed, FutureAdvisor found an average expense ratio of 1.02%, or around $102 a year, for a $10,000 investment."