April 7 at 2:25 p.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Retirement
By Associated Press
Social Security statements mailed each year. (Tribune)
Those yearly statements that Social Security mails out — here’s what you’d get if you retired at 62, at 66, at 70 — will soon stop arriving in workers’ mailboxes. It’s an effort to save money and steer more people to the agency’s website. Get the full story »
April 5 at 7:45 a.m.
Filed under:
Retirement
By Associated Press
Baby boomers are starting to retire, but many are agonizing about their finances and believe they’ll need to work longer than they had planned, a new poll finds. Get the full story »
March 15 at 5:50 a.m.
Filed under:
Retirement
By CNN
Most Americans have less than $25,000 saved up for retirement, putting retirement confidence at record lows.
More than a quarter, or 27 percent, of workers say they are “not at all confident“ about retirement, according to an annual survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Mathew Greenwald & Associates Inc. That’s up from 22 percent last year, which was the lowest level recorded in the two decades the survey has been conducted. Get the full story »
Dec. 13, 2010 at 7:22 a.m.
Filed under:
By Associated Press
Senators get their first chance Monday to vote on the tax-cut deal struck by President Barack Obama and Republicans, but whatever the outcome of the test vote, the White House expects the bill to pass by year’s end.
“Everybody understands what it would mean for the economy if we don’t get this done,” Obama adviser David Axelrod said Sunday. The No. 2 Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, said a “good cross-section” of senators in his party are ready to accept the deal. Get the full story »
Dec. 8, 2010 at 2:00 p.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Government
By Associated Press
House Republicans on Wednesday thwarted a Democratic effort to award $250 checks to Social Security recipients facing a second consecutive year without a cost-of-living increase. Get the full story »
Dec. 3, 2010 at 5:58 a.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Taxes
By Associated Press
Defying expectations, a bipartisan majority of President Barack Obama’s deficit commission has rallied behind the panel’s controversial deficit-slashing proposals.
A key Obama ally, liberal Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, endorsed the plan Thursday night, joining two of the Senate’s most conservative Republicans. Get the full story »
Dec. 1, 2010 at 4:19 p.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Government,
Updated
By Reuters
Debt Commission co-chairmen Erskine Bowles, right, and former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson at a news conference on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A presidential commission trying to balance the budget on Wednesday softened a proposed tax overhaul to win broader support for its bold plan to slash the $1.3 trillion federal deficit.
The plan faced an uphill struggle to win sufficient backing to trigger a congressional vote. Even if that happens, analysts predict Congress won’t take substantive steps to reduce the deficit this year.
Changes made to the plan included dropping a proposal to kill the popular mortgage interest tax deduction, as had been recommended on November 10. The revised version proposed a limited, 12 percent mortgage interest tax credit. Get the full story »
Nov. 10, 2010 at 12:38 p.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Government,
Taxes
By Associated Press
Leaders of President Barack Obama’s bipartisan deficit commission on Wednesday proposed reducing the annual cost-of-living increases in Social Security, part of a bold plan to control $1 trillion-plus budget deficits.
The proposal also would set a tough target for curbing the growth of Medicare and recommends looking at eliminating popular tax breaks, such as mortgage interest deduction. Get the full story »
Oct. 15, 2010 at 8:24 a.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Government
By CNN
Social Security beneficiaries will see no increase in their benefit checks next year, the federal government said on Friday. For more than 58 million seniors and other Social Security beneficiaries, 2011 will mark the second in a row without an inflation adjustment. Get the full story »
Oct. 11, 2010 at 5:50 a.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Retirement
By Associated Press
As if voters don’t have enough to be angry about this election year, the government is expected to announce this week that more than 58 million Social Security recipients will go through another year without an increase in their monthly benefits. It would mark only the second year without an increase since automatic adjustments for inflation were adopted in 1975. The first year was this year. Get the full story »
Aug. 10, 2010 at 11:31 a.m.
Filed under:
Investing,
Mortgages
By Tribune staff report
The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau has no director, but infrastructure for the powerful agency that will regulate mortgages, credit cards and other consumer products already is being developed, says one of the Washington insiders under consideration to head the bureau.
“Treasury isn’t sitting and waiting for the confirmation process,” Michael Barr, assistant U.S. treasury secretary, said during a wide-ranging conversation Tuesday morning with the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board. Get the full story »
Aug. 2, 2010 at 1:00 p.m.
Filed under:
By Julie Wernau
Approximately 260,000 unemployed workers in Illinois are eligible for employment under the HIRE Act, according to a state-by-state breakdown released today by the Treasury Department, placing Illinois fifth in the nation for states with the largest number of workers whose employers could qualify for HIRE act tax exemptions and tax credits. Get the full story »
Aug. 2, 2010 at 6:29 a.m.
Filed under:
Retirement
By CNN
Of all the flash points in the debate over Social Security, few generate as much heat as raising the retirement age.
Today, the so-called normal or full retirement age is 66, up from 65 a decade ago. It is scheduled to increase by two months a year starting in 2017 until it reaches 67 in 2022. Meanwhile, 62 remains the age at which those who retire early can collect a percentage of their full benefits.
But many budget and debt experts recommend that the retirement age be raised further. Get the full story »
