The latest Trustees Reports for Social Security and Medicare contained some much reported tranquilizing news. There’s only one problem: One of those reports is an involuntary work of fiction. That’s what the Medicare trustees report has become since the passage of the Affordable Care Act. I say…
ReadI don't make any claims to expertise in government finance I do admit to being greatly frustrated by the subject for my entire career as a financial writer That's why I was eager to coauthor "The Coming Generational Storm " with Larry Kotlikoff He is one of the creators of Generational…
ReadBy Scott Burns If the fate of Social Security were a children’s fairy tale it would be called “The Monster That Ate Social Security ” According to economist Alicia Munnell retiree out of pocket expenditures to cover premiums deductibles and co pays for parts B and D of Medicare will…
ReadTip jars are usually simple But this one encountered in the passenger food gallery at Austin’s Bergstrom International airport was different A sign tucked into the jar read This is our health care plan If the ice cream shop had any workers over age 30 they weren’t visible For these…
ReadThe letter begins “Dear Scott Burns Pressure to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits as a means of trimming the federal deficit continues to grow in Washington DC… and AARP urgently needs your immediate support to fight these efforts to balance the federal budget on the backs of…
Read
I’m not speaking about your portfolio, of course. I’m referring to your Medicare Part D plan. Many retirees opt for Medicare Parts A and B, also known as “Original Medicare,” and then add a Part D plan to cover their prescription costs. These choices are made at the beginning of retirement, and too…
ReadPrices dropped last year But we still need to invest to protect ourselves from inflation That’s why our retirement plan investing needs an inflation “tilt ” You’ll understand why in a few paragraphs How bad will future inflation be I don’t know Neither does anyone else It could be a…
ReadNearly five years ago MIT Press published “The Coming Generational Storm ” a book I co authored with economist Laurence J Kotlikoff We shared a deep foreboding about the implicit debt of our government and the burden it put on the young We thought tough times were coming And they have …
ReadThanks to a good accountant the Burns family tax return was ready a week before deadline this year Proud of ourselves my wife and I signed it Then we contemplated its enormity While far shorter than "War and Peace " the heft of our 40 page return was striking So was the amount we had paid …
ReadOne small set of tables among all the Social Security and Medicare trustees' report documents tells us two worlds will collide much sooner than expected The worlds aren't planets They are the world of U S government operations and the related but separate world of Social Security and Medicare…
Read