Social Security administration Archives

There’s a Social Security Administration law that says that if they fail to boost the annual cost of living adjustment in any given year, they can raise the cost of Medicare for wealthier subscribers. Since the SSA has announced that there will be no cost of living adjustment for 2016, more than 15 million United States seniors will face a premium jump from $104.90 to $159.30 or more. This is because of a little known law that punishes wealthier Medicare users when that adjustment is not made.

The only way this can be avoided is if Congress or the Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Matthews Burwell intervenes. If you want to weigh in on this issue and try to stop the increase, contact your congressman immediately.

For more information about Medicare and other issues related to our aging population, go to www.diesmart.com.

You worked hard your whole life and paid money into the Social Security program evey month. So did your spouse. And now that you are both retired, you are relaxing, enjoying life and collecting a benefit check every month.

But Social Security benefits are not just for retirement. They are for widows and widowers, too. That’s right. Some of the money you paid into Social Security during your working life goes to survivor’s insurance from which you may one day be entitled to collect benefits. The amount of those benefits is based on lifetime earnings.

It is important to know that the surviving spouse is not the only one who can collect benefits. Surviving minor or disabled children are eligible as well.

Diesmart has received questions from widows and widowers who want to be sure they have collected all of the pension benefits to which they are entitled. However, they usually either forget or don’t know that they are leaving money on the table when they don’t file for Social Security survivor benefits as well.

Don’t forget to contact the Social Security administration to find out what steps you need to take to collect benefits to which you are entitled. www.ssa.gov/survivorplan/ifyou.htm

For more information about death benefits, go to www.diesmart.com.