GOP platform promises to preserve retiree benefits, but it's short on details

Jul 18, 2024
The Republican Party says it will maintain Social Security and Medicare entitlements without cutting benefits, but that's a tall order.
Both Social Security and Medicare are projected to go broke in a little over a decade.
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Social Security benefits have lost 20% of their buying power since 2010, report finds

Jul 18, 2024
Social Security benefits are adjusted to protect retirees against inflation, but not enough, according to some experts, advocacy groups and lawmakers.
Every year, Social Security benefits are eligible for a cost of living adjustment. But experts, lawmakers and advocacy groups say the methods to calculate the COLA can be improved.
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Does Social Security increase the national debt? It depends on how you define “debt.”

Jul 4, 2024
The program pays $1.5 trillion a year and aids 70 million Americans. But it has its own budget and by law can't create debt or widen deficits.
Almost 70 million Americans receive Social Security benefits and the program pays out about $1.5 trillion a year, as Marketplace's Kimberly Adams explains.
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Lawmakers managed to fix Social Security in the 1980s. But those fixes won't work a second time.

Jun 28, 2024
The Social Security program is on track to burn through its savings account by 2035 unless Congress changes the law before then. Social Security faced a similar funding crisis in the early 1980s.
Some of the fixes used in 1983, like exposing benefits to taxation, were one-time solutions. Congress will have to agree on more ways to increase funding before the 2035 deadline comes around.
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Social Security cuts are inevitable by 2035 unless lawmakers act

Jun 27, 2024
Social Security has been known as “the third rail of American politics” since the early 1980s, with the idea that touching the program can prove deadly to a politician’s career.
Because Social Security can’t take on any debt or tap into general revenues to fund benefits, Congress needs to do something before the money runs out.
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What should you do if your Social Security number is stolen?

May 10, 2024
Freeze your credit, and don’t be afraid to ask for help or use free, online resources, experts say.
Make sure you consistently review your financial statements to spot fraudulent activity.
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When the government can no longer pay full Social Security benefits

May 7, 2024
Monday's report on the system's "go-broke" date raises questions about how Social Security is funded.
Projections indicate that Social Security and Medicare benefits will be cut immediately after 2033 by 21%, says Will McBride, vice president of federal tax policy at the Tax Foundation.
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AARP survey shows many older adults worry about financing retirement

May 6, 2024
More than 60% of people over 50 are worried they won’t have enough money to live on in retirement, which is more than last year, according to a recent survey from AARP.
About a third of people 50 and older who are still working have saved less than $10,000 toward retirement.
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How entitlements like Social Security and Medicare got so big

May 3, 2024
These programs are the biggest part of the budget, and cuts to them feel personal, one expert says. Reducing them has been tough historically.
Social Security started during the Depression as a way to get money to elderly people, many of whom were living in poverty. Now it's the biggest U.S. government expense.
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Should the U.S. raise the retirement age?

Mar 26, 2024
Larry Fink, head of the largest money manager in the world, suggested in an investor letter that the retirement age should be higher because of longer life expectancies. But is that realistic?
Larry Fink, the head of BlackRock — the largest money lender in the world — suggested in an investor letter Monday that we should maybe consider pushing up the retirement age.
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