The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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Every year on Veterans Day, we honor the people who risk their lives to protect our freedom. Social Security honors veterans and active duty members of the military every day by giving them the respect they deserve. Social Security’s disability program is an important part of our obligation to wounded warriors and their families. For military members who return home with injuries, Social Security is a resource they can turn to. If you know any wounded veterans, please let them know about S...
When your writer was growing up in Salt Lake City, Utah, the name Salem was associated with the state of Oregon. Later on, now that home is in Alabama, it is learned that there is also a Salem in that state. And recently, in a letter from a sister-in-law in Utah, it was learned that there was also a Salem there. How many Salems, one must ponder, are there? Taking all the states in the U.S. where a city “Salem” exists, there are at least 53—if not more. There are three Salems in Arkansas, two i...
Many people working nowadays have more than one job, so it’s not uncommon for them to have several sources of income. Owning multiple small businesses, seasonal jobs, and the gig economy add to the mix — and complexity — of our modern day economy. It’s important to keep in mind that having multiple sources of income can sometimes affect your Social Security benefits. Disability payments from private sources, such as private pensions or insurance benefits, don’t affect your Social Security...
During his lifetime your humble scribe has traveled throughout most of the United States, Europe, and into the South Pacific. Residence has been in a variety of setting, many more than once, but none have been as satisfactory as the present abode: “Elmcroft of Halcyon,” an assisted living facility located next to the ballpark off Taylor Hill Road. It is a splendid facility that accommodates a variety of senior living needs. The staff at Elmcroft is headed by Executive Director Tammy Grant, who...
Social Security and Medicare have a few things in common. Both programs help safeguard millions of Americans as well as improve the quality of life for our family and friends. Although both programs are household names, many people may not be familiar with the details of Medicare. Medicare is our country’s health insurance program for people age 65 or older. The program helps with the cost of health care, but it doesn’t cover all medical expenses or the cost of most long-term care. You have cho...
On July 6, 1776, General George Washington called for America’s independence from Great Britain, and declared the “The United colonies of North America” were to now be a free and independent nation, no longer under the iron rule of Great Britain. His words were followed by Thomas Jefferson’s declaration that “all men were created equal and endowed by their creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Then in 1892, Francis Bellamy put forth his “Pledge of...
Social Security is here for young people when a parent passes away. We know that the loss of a parent isn’t just emotionally painful; it can be devastating to a family’s finances. In the same way that Social Security helps to lift up the disabled and elderly when they need it, we support families when an income-earning parent dies. In 2017, we distributed an average of $2.6 billion each month to benefit about 4.2 million children because one or both of their parents are disabled, retired, or...
You work hard for your money. You’re saving and planning for a secure retirement. Now you need to make sure you’re going to get all the money you deserve. Regularly reviewing your Social Security earnings record can really pay off, especially when every dollar counts in retirement. If an employer did not properly report just one year of your work earnings to us, your future benefit payments from Social Security could be close to $100 per month less than they should be. Over the course of a lifet...
Retirement doesn’t have the same meaning for everyone. Some people plan to retire and never work again. Some people plan for second careers in occupations that wouldn’t have adequately supported their families, but they do the work for pure enjoyment. Some people, whether by design or desire, choose to work part-time or seasonally to supplement their retirement income. Retirees (or survivors) who choose to receive Social Security benefits before they reach full retirement age (FRA) and con...
On Memorial Day, we honor service members who have given their lives for our nation. Social Security acknowledges the heroism and courage of our military service members, and we remember those who have given their lives to protect our country. Part of how we honor these heroes is the way we provide Social Security benefits. The loss of a family member is difficult for anyone. Social Security helps by providing benefits to protect service members’ dependents. Widows, widowers, and their d...
After a lifetime of working, you deserve a comfortable retirement. For over 80 years, Social Security has been helping people shape their future, assisting them with a variety of benefits. It’s up to you as to when you can start retirement benefits. You could start them a little earlier or wait until your “full retirement age,” or delay retirement to get extra money each month. There are benefits to either decision. Full retirement age refers to the age when a person can receive their Socia...
Many, many years ago children of the ruling classes and of the landed gentry were tutored in the home - or palace - by scholars of great repute. The rest of society, for the most part, was illiterate, since philosophers such as Aristotle, Socrates and Plato plied their craft only to the royal or the rich. The rest of society learned its letters and ciphers as best it could. Today there exist derivations of this method of teaching in what has come to be called Home Schooling. A typical home...
I am pleased to share that starting April 2018, our colleagues at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will begin mailing new Medicare cards to all people with Medicare. Instead of a Social Security Number, the new card will have a Medicare Number that's unique to each person with Medicare. The new card will help protect identities and keep personal information more secure. Medicare coverage and benefits will stay the same. Medicare will automatically mail new cards at no cost to...
Not since the “War of Northern Aggression” has the United States of America been less united than it is today. Watching the Democrats vigorous pouting during President Donald Trump's State of the Union message last month, the situation would have been funny had it not been more serious. It was almost as if Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton had returned to life to sit in the Capitol, frowning and posturing as President Trump gave his “State of the Union” speech. As the public viewed...
“Rosie the Riveter” is an American icon representing women working in factories during World War II. These women learned new jobs and filled in for the men who were away at war. They produced much of the armaments and ammunition to supply the war effort. They also paid FICA on their wages, contributing to the Social Security program. These “Rosies” embodied the “can-do” spirit immortalized in a poster by J. Howard Miller. Both the image and the spirit live on today. If you asked Rosie about...
Deciding when to start receiving your retirement benefits from Social Security is a decision that only you can make, and you should make that decision with as much information as possible. There are a lot of important questions to answer. Should you claim benefits earlier and get a smaller monthly payment for more years? Or should you wait and get a bigger monthly amount over a shorter period? There are no right or wrong answers, but we encourage you to consider these four important questions as...
Next payday, when you see a portion of your wages go toward FICA taxes, rest easier knowing that your investment in Social Security brings a lifetime of protections for you and your family. From your first job and throughout your career, we track your earnings and give you credits for the contributions you’ve made through payroll taxes. Those credits can translate into important future benefits. As you prepare for a financially secure future, you should know about these five benefits that y...
It's that time of the year when the thoughts of most of us turn to the celebration of Christmas. It's also the time of the year when the squirrels come out of the woodwork and we're inundated with more nonsense than we want to endure as it relates to the holiday: it's principal characters, and its celebration. From this person's viewpoint there are two tales that best represent Christmas and all it stands for; these being: O. Henry's The gift of the Magi, and Charles dickens' A Christmas Carol....
While most of the months of the year derive their names from some sort of significant or romantic root, three months of the year have no special meaning other than numerical. September gets its name from the Latin word septem, seven, October for the Latin octo, eight, and novem in Latin means nine. That's how the months of the year lined up numerically in times gone by. Unlike July, which was named for Julius Caesar, or August, which got its name from Augustus, the word November just means that...
Disability is something many people aren't faced with in a direct way. The reality is, a 20-year-old worker currently has a one-in-four chance of becoming disabled before reaching retirement age. That makes Social Security disability benefits something you should learn about and understand. One fact you should know is Social Security's definition of disability: the inability to work because of a severe condition that is expected to last for a year or end in death. Social Security disability...
Some seventy six years ago your writer was earning his Merit Badges as a new Boy Scout, and was reminiscing over his first year in the “World of Work.” He was thinking over his bi-weekly salary that put a handsome $20. in his pocket twice a month—before taxes. Yet to come that year was the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the realization that our country was now engaged in World War II. Now, nearly nine decades later, ushered into his life is a war-time era, replete with reali...
While many of us look forward to Friday, with its end-of-the-workweek designation and our weekend plans, certain cultures consider it an unlucky day. Some people, suffering from triskaidekaphobia, are truly terrified of the number 13. Combine the two factors and it’s not surprising that many believe that Friday the 13th is a frightening day. While superstitions play an important part in the Friday the 13th jitters, we offer a different approach to this “unlucky” day with 13 fearless thing...
Is Social Security a topic in your conversations these days? Are you familiar with the lingo used to describe Social Security benefits, or does it sound like a new vocabulary to you? Social Security employees strive to explain benefits using easy-to-understand, plain language. But if a technical term or acronym (an abbreviation of the first letters of words in a phrase) that you don't know slips into the conversation or appears in written material, you can easily find the meaning in our online...
As of a year ago, the U.S. population was 322,762,018, a rise of more than 2.4 million than was counted a year ago. Unfortunately, an estimated 11.4 million of this number are illegal entrants into the United States, a good many of whom have their lives subsidized by the U.S. taxpayer; and more than 11 million of them are here illegally—many of whom are on the U.S. dole. Which is costing the American taxpayer better than $54.5 billion a year in dollars that could have been spent of making l...
For those of us who number our life spans in a multiple of decades we've witnessed an interesting range of adjectives used to describe our Congress, from irascibility to serene. For the current Congress, albeit in its infancy, the appropriate adjective seems to be irascible: “easily provoked to anger,” and “very irritable.” These fit quite well. In fact, this may be the worst Congress in our history as it relates to trampling our nation's raison d'etre into dust. At the other end of the spectru...
