Money

Hi: My Mom moved into an assisted living facility last May. Does anyone have any information on estimating the amount of "medical expenses" one can deduct from income taxes for assisted living costs? All the information online I've seen say something like "part or all of your assisted living costs may qualify for the medical expense tax deduction".  When I asked the business director at the assisted living facility, they sent me a 2-page boilerplate document that said  "For residents requiring assistance with 2 or more activities of daily living in our Life Guidance Program, 100% of the fees paid ... could likely[my emphasis] be deductible for tax purposes."  My Mom does meet that requirement, and is paying a monthly supplement for an enhanced plan-of-care above the basic monthly cost for the apartment (the basic rent includes meals, cleaning, laundry, 24-hr access to medical staff, prescription management, free transportation to medical offices, etc..). &

I started a complaint against a mover broker who scammed me out of $1600. The following is the report that I sent to the Better Business Bureau:I reported the company, American Relocation and Storage, and the company refused to settle and I rejected their reasoning. The gentleman I spoke with, Steph, assured me that I was merely getting a quote and that I was not obligated to use American Relocation and Storage. I mention this because when I was asked to make a downpayment, I thought it was odd. Informed the representative that his was the very first quote I had sought and that I planned to shop around. I have not moved in 11 years and the previous move was a local move. Steph did not have a representative to send out to look at my possessions, he also merely made me list approximately what I wished to move. He did not ask me to conduct a video recording of the furniture and possessions in my apartment, so his quote was not based on a reasonable assessment of my property. Accordin

  Last nite on CNN, host Laurie Coates interviewed DAVID FAHRENTHOLD, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, NEW YORK TIMES on this. CNN 02/12/2025 - Laurie Coates interview (transcript) It is the very last interview of the nite so go to the end and scroll backwards until you see his name - DAVID FAHRENTHOLD, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, NEW YORK TIMES I have found these other articles on it also - MSN 02/11/2025 The ‘Limestone Mine’ Manually Processes Federal Retirement Paperwork Is Actually Real from the MSN link: “The issue isn’t necessarily the mine itself, but the fact that core steps in the way retirement papers are processed are still done manually, requiring paper printouts, actual signatures, and tens of thousands of file cabinets stuffed with manila folders.“.. . . Fahrenthold’s article describes in painstaking detail the multi-step procedures for intake, processing, and approval of retirement paperwork, which repeatedly uses real paper that has to be internally moved by the

FROM THE ARTICLE: Reduction in benefits projected by 2035 unless action is taken to shore up vital program. By Andy Markowitz, AARP. *** There are 93 Comments on the AARP website. Stop by to add yours. *** Published January 29, 2025. A large, bipartisan majority of Americans favors raising taxes to strengthen Social Security’s finances and avert a benefit cut in the next decade, according to a new AARP-funded survey from the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI).Social Security’s trustees project that the program’s trust funds will run short in 2035, forcing a 17 percent across-the-board cut in benefit payments, unless Congress acts to shore up the system by increasing its revenue, reducing benefits or a combination of both. USE LINK BELOW TO READ ARTICLE: https://www.aarp.org/social-security/survey-raising-taxes/

FROM THE ARTICLE: Paychecks and retirement income escape state taxes if you live here. There are plenty of strategies to lower your tax bill, including contributing to retirement accounts, leveraging tax credits and maximizing itemized deductions. Or, if you’re really committed to paying less in taxes, you could move. In nine states, income isn’t taxed — allowing residents to hold onto more of their hard-earned dollars. For retirees, this means that pension payouts, retirement account withdrawals and Social Security benefits aren’t subject to state taxes. By Cameron Huddleston, AARP. *** There are 9 Comments so far on AARP website. Stop by to add yours. *** Published January 09, 2025. USE LINK BELOW TO READ ARTICLE: https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/states-without-an-income-tax/ 

 Really interesting the places their heads are going -  January 3, 2025Steny Hoyer, Wendell PrimusEstimates of the Financial Effects on Social Security of potential legislation to improve the solvency of the Social Security Trust Funds, requested by Representative Steny Hoyer and Wendell Primus (PDF version)

 On 11/19/2024 I ordered a new Induction Oven from the Frigidaire website. They gave me a delivery date of 11/28/2024. Maybe they deliver on Thanksgiving? Well, it's now 12/5/2024 and they have given me a new delivery date of 12/24/2024. I told them if you were just honest up front and stated that you did not have any in stock I would have understood. But, no. 4 phone calls later and they are still pretending that the oven is eventually going to exist. I asked for compensation for the delay and they offered me $40.What a slap in the face. I had also ordered the air fry rack that goes with that oven; it was shipped right away. Please be warned!  These people are not straight shooters. I would not recommend them to anyone. Again, Please be warned! I am so upset. I am 68 years old turning 69 on Christmas; was buying this oven for my wife of 48 years; now all is lost. 

Here is the background:  I was laid off effective 9/15/2023 due to a company reorganization and my position was eliminated.  As part of the action the company paid me a severance in addition to bonuses and unpaid vacation plus my salary for nine months.  Needless to say my total income for 2023 was quite large.  Since i was already 67 in 2023 I decided to quit working and officially retire.  Effective 10/2023 the only income I have now is SSA benefits, my husband’s pension and any IRA (taxable) distributions I take.  I did not submit any request to lower IRMMA  for 2024 year since they were using 2022 income and I was ok paying the extra.  However, it is a different story for 2025 since they are using the 2023 income.  The extra IRMAA adds approx 500 each to my husband and I.  I am trying to fill out the form to lower IRMMA and need some help in filling it out correctly.  I went to the SSA office in December 2024 to get help but wa

    Thru the years, benefits for Social Security have increased in coverage but there has not been enough income coming in to cover these increases in coverage. EXAMPLE - Survivors benefits INCLUDING Divorced Widows -   If a person marries and divorces say 3-times and each of these marriages and the current one meets the eligibility for Survivors benefits, in essence, there could be as many as (4) widowed spouses (including the divorced spouses) could be drawing Survivors benefits.  And these are NOT limited by any Family Maximum - each of these widows - divorced and current - receive 100% of the Survivors benefits - NOT a portion of it. No wonder the Trust Fund is running out of money.  The math just does not work to me - but I’m all ears in receiving comments on this justification.  

Social Security Taxes to Change Under New Bill: Here's Who's Impacted

I'm reaching out to encourage everyone to contact their representatives and support President Trump's proposal to eliminate income taxes on Social Security benefits.Here's why this matters:Key Points to ConsiderCurrently, up to 85% of Social Security benefits can be subject to federal income tax1About 67 million U.S. households receive monthly Social Security benefit checks3The proposal would primarily help middle-income seniors who currently pay taxes on their benefitsAction StepsContact your local congressional representativesEmphasize support for Trump's plan to remove Social Security benefit taxationHighlight how this would provide financial relief for seniorsImportant CautionWhile the proposal sounds appealing, financial experts warn it could potentially harm the long-term sustainability of Social Security. The Congressional Budget Office estimates this tax cut could reduce Social Security revenue by approximately $950 billion between 2026-20353.Recommended Communication PointsExp

Why is it that the limits set in 1983 for the amount of additional income a Social Security recipient has earned is not tied in some fashion to COLA or economic inflation.  I can't quite make it on SSA benefit and have to supplement to the point that I consistently cross the $32,000 limit. It seems to me that limit should at least be $40K by now.  This should be a easy fix for our current President

I am now truly scared; I rely totally on my social security retirement monthly check. What happens if these two outside the system choose to end that? They've ended other programs within 20 days; what happens if I end up on the street with only a blanket and a bag of dirty clothes? Guess done...

 My FRA  will be in May 2025 but I plan to keep working. My ex spouse is 2 years younger than me and still working.  Can I collect SS from his account in May while working, then switch over to my account when I fully retire, or am I stuck with his amount?  We were married 24 years, so I know I'm eligible for some of his portion but I've gotten different answers when I call SS. 

   I would like to make everyone aware of  a recent scam someone tried to pull on my husband and I when we were trying to sell our 2019 Toyota Tacoma.  My husband had his truck advertised on several car selling websites.  He received a call from an interested buyer at 8 o'clock one evening.  The man seemed very motivated and asked if he could come see the car that night.  My husband thought that was an odd time to be shopping for a car but agreed when the guy said he was leaving town the next day and really wanted to see it.    Two young men arrived about an hour later.  My husband and I had taken some safety precautions but the men seemed non threatening.  They took it for a short test drive around the block.  When they came back, they asked to look under the hood.  My husband popped open the hood and just then, one of the guys asked him to come to the back of the truck so he could show him something he had a questi

The link:NBC NEWS 02/06/2025 - Trump administration agrees to restrict DOGE access to Treasury Department payment systems  It is temporary and has some exceptions.  Back to court again later in this month. from the link ~U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly signed off on the agreement Thursday morning. The agreement will stay in place until she rules on the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction, which will be the subject of a Feb. 24 hearing.

My mother in law is a widower who turns 60 this month 2/21Her Husband passed 7/2015 and he was born 10/27/1960We called SSA and they told her she was eligible to claim SS against her passed husband for $2000 a month.My mother in law currently works a full time job at $50k annually and doesn't want to stop it.Sounds like the income restriction is $23,400 Here's where I'm confused...If she continues to make 50k they only hold $1 for every $2, meaning she gets $24,000 a year from SS, and (50,000-23,400=26,600/2=13,300) and gets to keep $36,700 from her 50k job to total $60,700? That's question number 1, is my math right.Question #2 is if they withold approximately $13,300 a year until she reaches FRA, will she ultimately ever get that money back? Or is that $13,300 a year they kept just gone. 

Someone has three life insurance policy on my elderly father and the insurance company won't tell me who opened them. I think his landlord did it because the address was in his old apartment he lived in down Stairs .  We found out because another company sent him a Letter letting him know that the insurance company was hacked and asking if he wanted free identity theft monitoring because of the hack. Right now I don't know what to do.  Can someone please help me with this matter. 

Integrity o AARP. Already known for years that Hartford has been paying you for years AARP. Do not ever try to lie to more than thousands of people AARP.

Do NOT EVER THINK THAT AARP CAN EVER DISCOURAGE COMMENTS THAT I HAVE MADE ABOUT HARTFORD PAYING AARP TO SPONSERthem.  That would be difficult-Let’s HAVE AARP WHICH IS A SUPPLEMENT TOUNITED HEALTH CARE  EXPLAIN. Please review the comments relating .  Now I’m going after the disgusting people that paid a serial fraud scum $8,000 .hartford whoever did not like me because I did not ever back down-I have every rite to look and question.  🙋‍♂️ I hope AARP WOULD WANT HONESTY WITH THEIR MILLIONS OF MEMBERS

 I have seen contradictory information about this question online and don't find anything on the SSA website that addresses it. I am 75, the high wage-earner, and started collecting my benefits at age 70.  My wife is young and will have only a small benefit on her own earnings.  Assuming I am still alive when she reaches age 62, she will apply for her benefits of which the spousal benefit will be higher than her own.  So, the SSA will automatically give her the spousal benefit.  Now, I very much want her to wait until her FRA of 67 before she starts collecting the widow's benefit so that she gets all of my delayed retirement credits.  However, some info sources claim that upon my death the SSA will automatically switch her to her survivor's, since there will be no more spousal benefit.  I however want her to wait until her FRA, which would mean that when she loses the spousal benefit she would revert to her own retirement benefit to preserve the

Had a false tax return filed on Jan 27th, if you have not created an IP PIN with the IRS you are at risk.  Per the IRS it will now take over 345 days for them to investigate the fraud and up to 3-4 years before we get our refund. Get to the IRS site and do a search on IP PIN and create one for anyone that has an SSN for tax purposes, that way the number is only known to you and the IRS and is required when you file your taxes, you need to get a new IP PIN every January to protect yourself from someone filing a false tax return under your SSN.Our SSN's  were compromised by the recent WA State DOT hack so protect your account NOW. AARP should have run an article about this to warn all seniors about this issue and how to help protect yourself.

Just FYI You can apply for retirement benefit up to (4) months before you want them to start.  However if you are applying for EARLY retirement benefits you must take certain timing into consideration. You must be at least age 62 for the entire month to be eligible to receive benefits. If you were born on the first or second day of the month, you meet this requirement in the month of your 62nd birthday. If you were born on any other day of the month, you do not meet this requirement until the following month.You can apply up to four months before you want your retirement benefits to start. For example, if you turn 62 on December 2, you can start your benefits as early as December. If you want your benefits to start in December, you can apply in August. If you turn 62 any day after December 2, you are not age 62 for the entire month of December. You can start your benefits as early as January when you are 62 for the entire month. If you want your benefits to start in Janu

This is the Social Security Calendar for 2025 benefits payments -This is normally the date that SSA pays the benefits but it could show up in your bank account a day or so before or after depending on if it is a holiday. SSA.gov - Schedule of Social Security Benefit Payments 2025  The footnotes at the bottom of the page will tell you when to expect your monthly benefit in 2025 based on your birthday if only receiving a Social Security Benefit - either the 2nd, 3rd or 4th WEDNESDAY if the month, If receiving only Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or a combination of SSI and Social Security it is paid on either the 1st or the 3rd of the month depending on the actual benefit type you are getting.        

Attention, Fellow AARP members:I want to bring to light and important issue regarding the possibility of the income tax being replaced by a national sales tax system, which could have a significant implication on our financial well-being, particularly for retirees or near retirees.Many of us have diligently saved for our future, often paying substantial income tax on our earning's over the years. However, under a sales tax system, we could face additional taxation when we spend our already taxed savings. This means every item we purchase with our hard-earned money could be subject to a new layer of taxation effectively taxing us twice.Consider the following points: Roth IRA which have been touted as tax free will be taxed. Selling personal property or items will be taxed again when you spend the cash. And if FICA is included, we pay FICA again. It crucial that we understand this and make our voices heard for our own sake.