Retirement
« Previous EntriesWomen will be disproportionately harmed by benefit cuts to Social Security
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010By Terry O’Neill, President, National Organization of Women Social Security, one of our country’s most important and successful social insurance programs, is especially vital to women, who would be disproportionately harmed by the cuts in benefits some in Washington are now proposing. The “three-legged stool of retirement” is meant to consist of a pension, personal [...]
Too Old to Work – Too Young for Social Security
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010When someone tells you it’s no big deal for Americans to work until they’re 70, chances are that person: (a) has an office job (b) earns income in the top-half of American wage earners (c) has access to generous health care coverage This is exactly the demographic that the the Social Security Administration [...]
What Does Raising Your “Retirement Age” Really Mean?
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010Nancy Altman, Guest Blogger NCPSSM Foundation Board member, Social Security Works Co-Director and Author, “The Battle for Social Security: From FDR’s Vision to Bush’s Gamble” Despite its name, Social Security’s statutorily-defined “Retirement Age” has nothing to do with when people must or can retire. It is most accurate to think of Social Security as [...]
New National Poll Finds 78% of Americans Oppose Raising Social Security’s Retirement Age
Thursday, July 15th, 2010The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare Foundation has released a new poll on American’s views on Social Security, proposals for raising the retirement age, and cutting benefits. The national telephone poll, conducted June 24-June 30th by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, shows a growing disconnect between the average American’s economic [...]
Tilting at Windmills
Friday, July 9th, 2010For regular readers of the Washington Post, you know just what we mean when we say, “what happened to the Post?” Whether it’s their policy of publishing articles from advocacy journalists as news or their steady stream of anti-Social Security editorials, it’s clear the Washington Post no longer embraces the values and mission of its glory days. [...]
A Social Security Must-Read
Friday, May 21st, 2010Our friends, Nancy Altman and Eric Kingson, have written a wonderfully clear description of the presidential Fiscal Commission, its goals and make-up. President Obama and the leadership in Congress have delegated enormous, unaccountable authority to 18 unrepresentative, inordinately wealthy individuals. The 18 individuals are meeting regularly, in secret, behind closed doors, until safely beyond this [...]
Conflating Debt, Deficits, and Social Security
Friday, March 12th, 2010There have been a number of very good pieces written this week which provided some desperately needed perspective on our debt, deficits and the campaign to blame them on Social Security. EJ Dionne wrote this in his piece, “Smart Debt, Dumb Debt –there is a difference”: “On health care, the status quo means that more [...]
Retirement & Recession…Can’t Have One Because of the Other?
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009Two new reports out this week put the recession’s effects on seniors into perspective. The National Retirement Risk Index shows that a majority of American households are at high risk of not having enough money in retirement. The 51% finding is the highest at-risk percentage since the index’ creation in 2006. The report concludes: “Ensuring [...]
Pitting Young Vs Old—It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way
Friday, October 16th, 2009For too long, some in Washington have been waging generational warfare as a way to persuade young people we can’t afford America’s social safety net. Those who have been fighting to gut programs like Social Security and Medicare have turned their attention to America’s 20 and 30-year-olds in a bid to convince this generation that [...]
Social Security & Medicare…So Much More than Line Items in a Budget
Thursday, October 8th, 2009Just ask Esther Lenette or Gerry Johnston. They came to Capitol Hill recently to offer some straight talk to members of Congress and the media about the vital roles Social Security and Medicare fill for retirees especially during this economic recession. Esther is 91 years old; she still drives and lives independently in Montgomery County, [...]
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