Social Security – 80 Years Old and It Shows

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Cut benefits, increase taxes, or both?

This is not the ideal 80th birthday present for Social Security but at this point it could be very likely.

For much of its existence, Social Security has collected more than it has paid out, resulting in a large surplus of funds, which is currently valued at $2.8 trillion.

That is enough money to pay out retirement benefits as they are until 2035, but after that, Social Security would have to rely solely on the tax payroll, which is only about 79% of what is scheduled to be paid out. This means that retirement benefits would automatically be cut by at least 21%.

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Budgeting Tools, Tips and Credit Scores

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Join us on Tuesday, July 21st at 1:00 PM EST

Budgeting doesn’t have to be a nightmare. One of the most important requirements is to have a plan. Learn how to create a simple easy to follow budgeting system that can be done online or on paper.

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Same-Sex Marriage Financial Impact

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Same Sex Marriage Ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court – Decided – June 26, 2015

Key Points of the Ruling:

1 – Same-sex marriage is a right guaranteed by the 14th Amendment

2 – States must license and recognize same-sex marriage

3 – States must recognize out-of-state same sex marriages

Impact

  • No more conflict between federal and state laws and taxation
  • More same-sex couples can be legally married (in states that previously did not permit it)
  • Relation to the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Windsor:
  • Windsor recognized Federal benefits for legal same-sex marriage while this case (Obergefell v. Hodges) allows same-sex marriage in all states and in turn allows more same-sex married couples to take advantage of Federal tax benefits.

The following Tax Benefits are now available to same-sex married couples in all states:  Read more

Federal Employees’ Wages Rise

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Starting in January of 2016, thirteen cities across the country will see a significant bump in salary for federal workers. This plan has been steadily moving along since May 2013, but now it finally has a date on which these changes will take place. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics has recorded data that shows the pay for federal employees in these cities lags significantly behind the average payments of employees in the private sector and in local governments.

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Weekly Roundup

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4 Million Federal Employees Hacked!

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The Office of Personnel Management is informing 4 million current and former employees that they have had personal information hacked from the OPM databases. this is the second time this year that OPM data has been breached by an unwanted party. The FBI is still performing their investigation into how the event took place and what a possible motive could be for stealing the personal information of federal employees. This doesn’t necessarily show the federal government messing up, rather it shows that even they aren’t safe from the cyber-crimes that are occurring more and more frequently. Click here to find out more.

10 Steps to Plan Your Retirement in Your 40s

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It’s never too early to start planning for your retirement. Only 53% of Americans participate in a retirement plan at work. One in three workers aged 35-44 has less than $1,000 saved for retirement. These numbers are baffling as there is no reason not to be forward thinking and have a relative plan for your future. These 10 steps will help you jumpstart your retirement plan and get you right on the track that you want to be on! The list can be found right here. 

Freshman Congressman Fights for Federal Pay Raise

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Rep. Don Beyer has only been in office for about six months now but that isn’t stopping him from trying to make changes. He is co-sponsoring a piece of legislation that would provide all federal employees with a 3.8% salary increase, significantly higher than the 1.3% increase that Obama has proposed. In addition, Beyer wants federal employees to be provided six weeks of parental leave that can be taken at the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child. Find out more here.