Think Retirement: February 2008 Archives
So it's John McCain. It's not official, but there seems to be no way the remaining candidates (Huckabee) can overcome the momentum that McCain has attained.
Now that McCain has come out on top, we'll be looking at his positions on retirement issues to see what if anything changes as the message is tuned to beat the Democratic nominee.
At the point where Mitt Romney withdrew his candidacy, he had no votes in our poll. It was curious. For as much visibility he had as a top contender and the money spent on his campaign, no votes at all indicated little interest in his message, from our point of view.
Seems that articles have been appearing with increasing frequency, outlining the rules for filing for Social Security Benefits. If you haven't checked them lately, it's worth looking into, even if you aren't ready to retire in the near future.
The basics are that you can file for partial benefits when you reach the age of 62. Depending on when you were born, you can file for full benefits when you are 65, 66, or 67.
Many people wonder whether they should consider filing for partial benefits, or wait to file for full benefits. You need to know which rules apply to you in order to know your options.
We've included links to a story in the Burlington Free Press, and here's a link to the official Social Security benefit calculator.
From the Burlington Free Press
Burlington Free Press.com | Living
A story in the NYT is the basis of a post that discusses President Bush's proposed cuts in payments to hospitals. They are pretty serious cuts in future funding, and the logic of the proposal is suspect, because it appears that private insurance is expected to make up the shortfall. We, and others, doubt that will happen.
The writer goes on to use this as an example of how bad it would be if Hillary Clinton's, or what he refers to as "Beltway Idiots" plans for health care succeed. We get the connection, but using a Bush plan as an example of how it's bad for the government to be responsible for anything would potentially have us take all responsibility for everything away from government. When an administration has low approval ratings like Bush-Cheney, and a track record for being wrong on predicting the outcome of their actions, one can forget that it doesn't have to be that way. In our history, we have had governments from both parties that, however briefly, had our best interests at heart, acted accordingly and gave us government that worked.
We hope the candidates from both parties remember that, during the campaign, and after.
From healthcarebs.com
Health Care BS - BUSH BOMBS AMERICA'S HOSPITALS
"Nationwide, well over half of the people who require hospital care are on Medicare and/or Medicaid. And, because hospitals lose money on these patients, they are in financial distress all across the country."
From the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI):
NASI has released a report that includes comparison of the value of Social Security to equivalent private insurance policies, focusing on groups that are at higher risk of having inadequate funds. The report consolidates information from 12 organizations, funded by the Ford Foundation.
The press release has the highlights. If you have ever wondered what it would cost to have your own Social Security insurance, here it is.
National Academy of Social Insurance - Publications
"WASHINGTON, DC - For most Americans, the value of their Social Security is the biggest accumulation of dollars they will take into retirement. In fact, for two-thirds of recipients over the age of 65, Social Security is more than half of their income during retirement, according to a new report released today by the non-partisan National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI)."
"WASHINGTON, DC - For most Americans, the value of their Social Security is the biggest accumulation of dollars they will take into retirement. In fact, for two-thirds of recipients over the age of 65, Social Security is more than half of their income during retirement, according to a new report released today by the non-partisan National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI)."
