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Thinking about Retirement?
Social Security: Americans Agree VIDEO
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Have you seen ”Social Security: Americans Agree?“ Click here to learn more.
Social Security: Just the Facts Video
Have you seen, “Social Security: Just the Facts?” Click here to learn more.
COVERED: a week-by-week look at the political and legislative developments that led to the creation of Medicare and Medicaid 50 years ago. Bob Rosenblatt, Academy senior fellow and former Los Angeles Times Washington correspondent will report on the people and the maneuvers that led to this major expansion of social insurance.
Social Security
Educating Americans on How to Save for Retirement
Before attending the National Academy of Social Insurance's 25th annual policy conference, Medicare and Social Security in a Time of Budget Austerity, I had very little knowledge of the details of the Social Security system. Throughout the conference, I couldn't help but think that the U.S. education system failed me by not preparing me for how to save for retirement.
Two presentations struck me at in particular:
Read More…Social Security’s Cost-of-Living Adjustment: What Do Americans Want?
The purpose of Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is to automatically adjust benefits to keep up with rising prices. Experts have long disagreed about how the COLA should be calculated and the rate at which it should grow to fully protect beneficiaries against loss of purchasing power due to inflation.
Some experts say the current COLA does not keep up with the inflation that seniors face because seniors spend more on out-of-pocket health care costs, which generally rise faster than average inflation. Other experts say that the current COLA actually overstates inflation because it does not sufficiently factor in substitution between different categories of goods. A recent survey that asked Americans whether they favor or oppose 14 different policy changes finds that Americans would prefer to increase, rather than reduce, Social Security’s COLA (see table below).
Read More…Giving Thanks: Key Programs Keep 26 Million Out of Poverty
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This Thanksgiving, Americans across the country can be thankful for four critical programs that helped keep nearly 26 million people out of poverty in 2011, including three social insurance programs: Social Security, unemployment insurance (UI), and workers' compensation, and a related program, Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Quick Facts on Social Security’s 1.7% COLA for 2012
This morning the Social Security Administration announced that beneficiaries will see a 1.7% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) beginning in their January 2013 checks. Social Security benefits are automatically adjusted to keep up with the cost of living.
Key points from the release:
Read More…The Social Security Debate and American Democracy
Social Security is not in crisis, as Ken Buffin reminded us in his presentation at NASI's 24th annual policy research conference on January 26 in Washington, DC. For the next 25 years, Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) trust funds are 100% solvent, and beyond that window, 90% solvent for two more decades.
