Sorted by date Results 501 - 525 of 901
FICA. Grrrrrr! Every time we get a paycheck most of us see the deduction for Social Security taken out of our earnings. It seems relentless and unfair, and to what end? It may be reasonable to think that because the one highly visible aspect of Social Security is the periodic deduction from the paycheck. But there is another story. Social Security pays benefits to nearly 92,000 Alaskans. That’s about 1 of every 8 residents in the state. These are not just a random selection of Alaskans. These are often Alaskans who would be in desperate f...
Staff from Alaska’s Social Security office will be available for questions via videoconferencing at the following locations and times: Kodiak Job Center, on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month (Dec. 12 and 26), 9 a.m. to noon. Kenai Senior Center, on the first and third Wednesday of each month (Dec. 6 and 20), 9 a.m. to noon. Ketchikan Job Center, every Thursday (Dec. 7, 14, 21, 28), noon to 3 p.m. Social Security provides toll-free telephone service to all of Alaska. Residents in Alaska’s Southeast communities can call the Juneau Soc...
Getting ready for retirement requires evaluation of all your sources of retirement income. Even if you worked for the government and didn’t pay the FICA tax on your earnings, you may be eligible for benefits from your spouse’s work under Social Security. However, when you receive both your own non-covered government pension and a Social Security spousal benefit, your Social Security benefit may be reduced. The Government Pension Offset (GPO) reduces your Social Security benefit by two-thirds of your government pension. Why are benefits reduced?...
Alaska AARP Foundation Tax-Aide needs new volunteers for the up-coming tax season. Tax volunteers must complete 40 hours of tax preparation classes that are taught by IRS-certified instructors. Lack of experience should not stop anyone from volunteering. You will learn where to input the information in the program and the software program does the rest. Materials for the course are provided by the IRS and AARP Foundation. Beginning classes will start in December for Anchorage, and in the Mat-Su Valley they will be held Saturdays, Jan. 6-27....
The Trump administration is planning to end another Obama-era regulation involving nursing homes, which was designed to shield the elderly from unscrupulous, abusive or bad nursing home practices. At the end of the Obama administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed rules that would’ve made it easier for nursing home residents or their families to take facilities to court over alleged abuse, neglect or sexual assault. Now, Trump is proposing to replace that rule with one that could make it almost impossible for n...
Last year’s holiday shopping season brought about 57 percent of shoppers to their computers and smartphones to find deals. The convenience and cost savings of shopping online are enticing to us… and irresistible to the criminals who see this as their heyday. More shoppers looking to avoid the crowds means more opportunity for thieves. That’s why Consumer Reports provided some steps to enhance the security of your online shopping. Here’s what they say, based on advice from Raymond Pucci, of the Mercator Advisory Group consulting firm. Find ou...
Anchorage is transitioning to Vote by Mail elections. This is an exciting advancement for our local Anchorage elections. Vote by Mail jurisdictions keep regular voters engaged, encourage new voter participation, and capture fraud attempts by verifying signatures. Anchorage began exploring alternative voting options in 2014 at the direction of Ernie Hall, former Chair, Anchorage Assembly Ethics and Election Committee. Former Assembly Member Hall had three concerns with Anchorage Municipal Elections. First, low voter turnout: voter participation...
I moved to Alaska in 1982 to take a job in a fledgling nonprofit organization. By 1988 I had blundered into a teaching position at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Among other benefits included with the job was a traditional pension. At the time, I was a young man more interested in a paycheck. “Pension shmension” -- who cared? Now I am an older guy who has been retired several years. That reliable monthly pension check is by far the biggest part of my income, more than double my Social Security income. The life my wife and I lead as old...
More than 25 percent of possible sexual and physical abuse cases against nursing home patients were not reported to police, warns a new government audit. The Health and Human Services inspector general’s office issued an unusual “early alert” recently, based on preliminary findings from a large sampling of cases in 33 states. The IG’s report blamed Medicare for failing to enforce federal law, which requires that nursing homes immediately notify the police in abuse cases. Investigators issued the early warning because they found that the res...
Holiday hiring is already underway and Better Business Bureau Serving the Northwest reports employment scams are trending up from last year. In 2016, more than 1,900 employment scams were reported to BBB Scam Tracker, resulting in more than $730,000 lost. From January to September 2017, there have been nearly 1,400 scams reported resulting in more than $635,000 lost. In the past two years on average, 54 percent of employment scams were reported from September to the end of December. With a few more months left in 2017 and the holiday hiring...
We saw the devastation from Hurricane Harvey and then monster storm Irma. It’s not just rain, wind and flooding that leads to a disaster, it’s also earthquakes, landslides and fires. You just never know when severe weather will strike, you never know when you’ll have to jump in your car and evacuate, or rush down into the basement or other safe space. Here are some quick tips to get you started. A more complete version can be found on my website at www.suzycohen.com. Medications. Keep a handwritten list in your wallet. Even better (if you h...
For now, Social Security is in the black. In 2016 the Social Security Administration (SSA) took in income of $957 billion, which includes interest income. During the same year, it had total expenditures of $922 billion, adding $35 billion to its asset reserves. The reserves together with new income that is projected, should be enough to cover SSA’s costs for another 10 years. But unless something changes, by 2022 the expenditures will start to outpace the income, gradually gobbling up the reserves. Who’s collecting Social Security benefits now?...
Staff from Alaska’s Social Security office will be available for questions via videoconferencing at the following locations and times: Kodiak Job Center, on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month (Oct. 10 and 24), 9 a.m. to noon. Kenai Senior Center, on the first and third Wednesday of each month (Oct. 4 and 18), 9 a.m. to noon. Ketchikan Job Center, every Thursday (Oct. 5, 12, 19 and 26), noon to 3 p.m. Social Security provides toll-free telephone service to all of Alaska. Residents in Alaska’s Southeast communities can call the Jun...
In a community with strong volunteers, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) hosted by the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, Inc. (APIA) can attest to the unified, strong and community-minded senior volunteer pool that drives this effort. The RSVP program at APIA is rounding its third year in the Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Within the first three years this program has started from scratch to build a program that offers opportunities for seniors age 55 years and...
Older Persons Action Group, Inc., earned honors for its monthly, statewide publication Senior Voice in the 26th annual National Mature Media Awards Program. The program, presented by the Mature Market Resource Center, a national clearinghouse for the senior market, recognizes the nation’s finest marketing, communications, educational materials and programs designed and produced for older adults. Senior Voice received three awards for feature stories: Long-time Senior Voice contributor Dianne Barske won a bronze award for her stories, ...
Are you feeling all smug and comfy about the level of your personal savings for retirement? OK, that was a rhetorical question. A report recently released by the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) found that 75 percent of adult Americans are concerned about their ability to achieve a secure retirement. In addition, 86 percent believe that the nation faces a retirement crisis. “It’s no wonder Americans believe the nation faces a retirement crisis – the evidence is irrefutable that the hope of retirement is out of reach for millions...
If you thought the bitter partisan fight over the “repeal and replace” of President Obama’s health care law was ugly, ratchet up the intensity – the next fight over Trump’s budget, including sweeping changes to Medicare, is about to start, just as Congress faces a fiscal crisis. These Medicare changes would raise the eligibility age and convert the program to a voucher program affecting all 55.5 million seniors currently using the program and millions more about to become Medicare eligible. President Donald Trump wants Congress’s next move t...
I have treasured photos from prior generations and am guessing you may too. I will be sure my picture albums land in the hands of my children, but what happens to the photos I store online? Did you inherit stacks of record albums or maybe cassette tapes from a loved one? Today most Alaskans access their favorite music purchases through their modern and fancy-fangled devices such as smart phones, tablets and computers. How will they pass on these electronic “stacks” of tunes to their loved ones? What happens to your pictures, music and all the...
Hospice of Anchorage is in search of some dedicated volunteers. Most positions that we usually recruit for have been filled and we are very thankful for this wonderful community that we live in. Looking forward, we are creating a team of about five dedicated volunteers that are interested in fundraising and event planning. Current events that we would have volunteers work on would include; Heroes of Healthcare, Remembering the Light, and the Remembrance Tree. Heroes of Healthcare is our annual fundraiser/auction in April that requires phone...
Juneau seniors may pay less at the cash register as the Juneau Assembly seeks to expand the list of essential items included in the city’s senior citizen sales tax exemption. Assembly member and ordinance sponsor, Mary Becker, hopes that including necessities like toilet paper, paper towels and facial tissue, personal items like shampoo, soap, and toothpaste and prepared food items to the list of essentials already exempt from the tax will increase essential services for seniors. “We decided we need to expand exempted items to make it more pal...
The Alaska Commission on Aging (ACoA) will hold its quarterly meeting Sept. 14 in Juneau, and will be accessible via video and teleconference at sites listed below, or statewide via toll-free telephone. The meeting takes place 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., and public comment is scheduled from 11 to 11:15 a.m. For more information, contact the host agency in your area (from the list below) or call the commission office in Juneau at 465-3250. Videoconference sites Anchorage Senior and Disabilities Services, 550 West 8th Ave., Room 143. 269-3666 Fairbanks...
he Third Annual Disability and Aging Summit will be held in Anchorage at the Special Olympics Alaska headquarters, 3200 Mountain View Drive, Oct. 13 and 14. This year’s keynote speaker is Karrie A. Shogren, PhD, a professor at the University of Kansas and director of the Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities. Dr. Shogren will address self-determination, systems of support and supported decision-making. CEUs may be available at the conference for a fee. The event is presented by the Alaska Disability and Aging Coalition. For r...
Interested in learning more about businesses and agencies providing senior services in the Anchorage area? Want to get the word out about your own service? The monthly Interagency Breakfast, sponsored by Older Persons Action Group, is an opportunity for all the above. Informal, early and free, with breakfast provided. The September meeting is Sept. 13, hosted by Chugiak-Eagle River Senior Center. Begins at 8 a.m. RSVP by calling Older Persons Action Group, Inc. for more information on these events or to be added to our e-mail reminder list,...
With Better Business Bureau’s free annual event, the Secure Your ID shred day, coming up, it’s a good time to remind people about steps they can take to prevent identity theft. The first line of defense in protecting your identity is to shred all documents with personal information. That includes credit card, bank, utility and other statements, old IRS and tax information, medical statements and credit card offers. Many instances of identity theft still occur by physical methods – dumpster diving and stealing mail out of unsecured mailb...
Every day, 10,000 people turn 65 and the eldest baby boomers will begin to turn 80 in 2026, so the demand for long term care services is about to explode in the near future. Already 1.4 million seniors live in nursing home facilities in the U.S. But states are only making lukewarm progress helping millions of seniors on Medicaid avoid costly nursing home care by arranging home or community services for them instead, a new AARP report finds. Overall, AARP says states have made “incremental improvements” since its 2014 Scorecard, but calls the...
