Social Security

Why Uncle Sam Seized $713 Million From Social Security Checks Last Year

By Kelli B. Grant, CNBC

If you're counting on Social Security benefits, you better make sure you don't owe Uncle Sam. Under certain circumstances, the government can seize part of your Social Security check to satisfy...
Oregon Just Took the Lead in Getting Americans to Save More for Retirement

By Eric Pianin

Bucking resistance from a Republican Congress and the Trump Administration, Oregon has become the first state to launch a program requiring private employers to either offer their own 401 (k) savings...
Trump’s 2018 Budget: F in Math, A in Provocation

By Edward Morrissey

Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to enact economic policies that would produce annual growth in gross domestic product (GDP) consistently higher than 3 percent. The US economy has not seen that...
The Heartless Tradeoffs in the Trump Budget

By Mark Thoma

As the bombshells continue to drop on the Trump administration, behind the scenes Trump’s first detailed budget proposal is being developed, and it has a few bombshells of its own, particularly for...
How Millions of Aging Baby Boomers Could Bust the Economy

By Eric Pianin

A new report not only highlights growing economic anxiety among an increasingly important and influential cohort of the population, but also suggests that this overarching pessimism and caution could...

How the Government Is Making It Harder for You to Retire

By Eric Pianin

Many Americans have saved shockingly little for their retirements, with one study showing that the median savings for households near retirement age is just $17,000. In the coming years, tens of...
10,000 Boomers Turn 65 Every Day. Can Medicare and Social Security Handle It?

By Eric Pianin

By the time the last of this generation approaches retirement age in 2029, 18 percent of the U.S. will be at least that age, the Pew Research Center projects. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid...
The Growing Funding Gap for State Pensions Puts Millions at Risk

By Eric Pianin

Two new reports by the Pew Charitable Trusts suggest that state governments across the country are shortchanging their employee pension funds and aren’t adding enough money in emergency funding...
Here’s How Two Lawmakers Plan to Secure Social Security’s Troubled Future

By Eric Pianin

If nothing changes, by the time today’s 50-year old reaches retirement age, Social Security will be paying 21 percent less in benefits than it is today.
Trump Keeps Promise Not to Touch Social Security Reform – Or Did He?

By Edward Morrissey

Give Donald Trump credit for making his political career unique in many ways, to be sure. But one difference, in particular, has become a theme in his presidency: Trump keeps his promises. For the...

How the Presidential Candidates Would Confront $18.6 Trillion of U.S. Debt

By Eric Pianin

It has taken a while, but many of the 2016 presidential candidates have begun talking about how $18.6 trillion in long-term debt could threaten the U.S. economy, and what they would do to address it...
Medicare and Social Security Worse than They Look: Trustees

By Rob Garver

We know when the Medicare and Social Security trust funds will run out of money. But those dates aren’t really important
Democrats Call for Major Change in Social Security

By Rob Garver

The word “expand” can mean a lot of different things, but it seems fairly clear that the members of Congress pushing the president to “expand” Social Security are using the verb as a synonym for “...
Could Puerto Rico Be Saved by Becoming the 51st State?

By Ryan Cooper, TheWeek.com

Though the debt crisis in Greece is eating up most of the media oxygen, a somewhat similar crisis is happening in Puerto Rico. They've got way too much debt, and have been struggling badly since the...
States’ Budgets Squeeze Could Mean Higher Taxes For You

By Eric Rosenbaum, CNBC

State finances across the U.S. have been described as stable but slow growing. Six years into the post-recession economic recovery, that statement may be accurate, but the full truth may be more...

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