The Social Security COLA for 2026 is 2.8%. I examined what it means for beneficiaries with varying wealth levels for the NYT. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/b...

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A former OMB official said the change could mean "750,000 fewer people would receive benefits in the next decade... and 80,000 fewer widows and children would receive benefits due to loss in eligibility of a spouse or parent" A Meryl Kornfield/Lisa Rein scoop www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

In addition to blocking important enrollment simplifications for the Medicare Savings Programs, the #Medicaid cost shifts to states will likely lead to other cuts affecting low-income people on Medicare including cuts to long-term care especially home- and community-based care.

The OBBBA doesn’t reduce standard Medicare benefits, but it pauses a rule easing the path for low income seniors to get crucial help with costs. Millions will miss out. open.substack.com/pub/retireme...

The very idea of retirement was created 90 years ago today, when FDR signed Social Security into law. So was the era of social insurance. Today the program is at a crossroads. open.substack.com/pub/retireme...

My latest for the NYT - the coming long term care collision. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/24/b...

This (gift link)👇 www.wsj.com/finance/inve...

@kff.org has an updated summary of Medicaid provisions in the "big beautiful bill." www.kff.org/tracking-the...

Medicare was supposed to be left untouched in the budget reconciliation. But that's not the case. Read more from @nataliekean.bsky.social & Julie Carter on how Medicare enrollees will be harmed. And call your lawmakers - the House is set to vote soon! 866-426-2631 justiceinaging.org/broken-promi...

Thread: Latest House GOP reconciliation bill language again makes the draconian #Medicaid cuts harsher. For example, mandatory work requirements now will take effect 12/31/26 instead of 1/1/29 and states have option to implement them earlier (1/x)

Take away people already working, attending school or caregiving, and vey few Medicaid recipients are left. www.brookings.edu/interactive/...

The plot thickens. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

The Advantage industry already covers more than half of Medicare enrollees, and is projected to cover 2/3 by 2034. @georgejoseph94.bsky.social @theguardian.com

You want to see government efficiency? Check out the Social Security Administration before Elon and the DOGE bros showed up. They could have learned something... www.wsj.com/opinion/what...

This thread by @kathleenromig.bsky.social sums up very well why "flat funding" for the Social Security Administration actually is a harmful cut.

Some SSA field offices have lost half of their staff at the same time DOGE is forcing more people to visit the offices to transact business. How's that going to go? www.npr.org/2025/04/26/n...

Does anyone think Tesla's fortunes will improve if Musk just gets back to running the company? His toxic personal brand *is* the problem. The only solution left is to merge with another car maker and buy him out. Hello, institutional shareholders?

What leadership looks and sounds like.

Let the resurrections begin! Immigrants prove they are alive, forcing Social Security to undo death label

In the newsletter: Weaponizing Social Security data. retirementrevised.substack.com/p/trumps-lat...

In the newsletter: If the SSA can't take your call or speak with you in person about a benefit claim problem, is that tantamount to a benefit cut? open.substack.com/pub/retireme...

In the newsletter: a few thoughts for retirement investors following a stomach-churning week in the stock market. open.substack.com/pub/retireme...

Leland Dudek, Acting Putz In Charge at Social Security, admits that the rushed cutbacks will, alas, create “opportunities for scammers,” and there will be more “victims of fraud” …via @emilypeck.bsky.social www.axios.com/2025/03/24/s...

Certified Financial Planners board will host a free webinar for federal employees grappling with "uncertainty" in the current environment. www.cfp.net/events/2025/...

Last year, I started digging into the world of online scams. Here's the latest, which explains how many victims are left with enormous tax bills. The tax deduction that had provided the most relief was narrowed as part of the Republican-led tax overhaul in 2017. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/08/y...

Excellent WaPo reporting on how DOGE is in the drivers seat at SSA and the risk that poses. Also good to see a mainstream publication say this for a change. The Ponzi slur is old as the hills and obviously false. Media almost never refutes. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

In the newsletter: What's behind the "I see dead people" strategy for Social Security? Subscribe free if you're not already receiving it. open.substack.com/pub/retireme...

Here's how the big lie being perpetrated about Social Security parallels the last one on the 2020 election. It's dangerous. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxcd...

Here is CBO confirming the obvious. To meet House budget resolution's target that Energy and Commerce Committee make at least $880 billion in mandatory spending cuts and Medicare is excluded, deep #Medicaid cuts are absolutely necessary as there isn't much other spending. www.cbo.gov/publication/...

We’ve been hearing a lot from the Trump administration about waste, fraud and abuse at the Social Security Administration (SSA). Speaker Johnson has repeated these claims. What and where is this waste? A revealing SSA press release shows the emptiness of these charges. 1/8

GSA list of "non-core" federal buildin t it says are up for sale or other disposal includes FBI hq, Justice Dept hq, Labor Dept hq, Waldorf Astoria (formerly Trump) hotel, HHS hq, Census Bureau hq in Suitland, HUD hq...and the building that houses the GSA itself. www.bizjournals.com/washington/n...

‘Prelude to privatization:’ Social Security confirms workforce reduction targets, continues to shutter offices www.govexec.com/workforce/20... via @GovExec

Fact check: Social Security has been under a hiring freeze & had overtime restrictions for months. This isn't DOGE saving money. It's Congress not being able to pass a budget. And it accounts for over 2/3 of the "savings" the acting commissioner claimed today. www.govexec.com/management/2...

The Social Security Administration is in turmoil. open.substack.com/pub/retireme...

The SSA is in turmoil. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/b...

"I never thought leopards would eat MY face," sobs woman who voted for the Leopards Eating Peoples Faces Party. www.semafor.com/article/02/2...

good examples here of how these heinous SSA office closings imperil at risk people. www.propublica.org/article/doge...

That's true. Also, at the risk of kicking the WaPo when it's down - the paper's editorial pages already were awful. Now they'll just be worse - alot worse, actually.

Social Security has started to make retroactive payments to teachers, cops and others affected by the Social Security Fairness Act. Remarkable that this is happening with all the chaos at the agency. www.ssa.gov/benefits/ret...

Well, if this turns out to be the actual plan, customer service at the SSA will collapse. Looks like more detail will surface shortly.

In the newsletter: how Republican Medicaid cuts would impact older adults. This will be devastating for patients and could destabilize big parts of the care sector. Sign up free. retirementrevised.substack.com/p/heres-what...

Up is down and carbon dioxide pollution isn't dangerous: www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Good news - this week's Social Security payments were made today.

GOP is coming for Medicaid, but it's an open question whether they can wrangle the votes they need. Evisceration of the ACA expansion would be part of this, and coverage for 70 million-plus is in peril. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/u...

Essential feed to follow, courtesy of @jayrosen.bsky.social

If you haven't set up your personal account at ssa.gov and downloaded your statement, do it now and once a year going forward. The data situation there is worrisome - get a backup copy of yours. New Social Security chief was being investigated when Musk team tapped him

In the newsletter: Protect your Social Security data from DOGE by setting up your free online SSA.gov account - and download your statement. Plus: DOGE is starting to cancel Social Security field office leases. Sign up free. retirementrevised.substack.com/p/havent-est...

Social Security runs on Cobol, an antiquated program language that the SSA has been trying to replace for years. It's rickety, so one great way for DOGE to infuriate the public would be to allow it to crash, make mistakes with benefit records or make it vulnerable to outside hacks.

No, 150-year-olds aren't collecting Social Security benefits. Elon Musk claims to have found rampant fraud; but there's a much simpler explanation.