Social Security Administration

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's budget calls for the elimination of a $255 lump-sum death payment that has been part of Social Security for more than 50 years and urges Congress to drop monthly survivor benefits for 16- and 17-year-old high school dropouts. The two proposals could save a combined $3.4 billion in the next decade, according to administration estimates. Any attempt to reduce Social Security benefits -- no matter how small -- could face intense opposition in Congress in an election year.

A Dorchester woman has been convicted of charges that she accepted more than $20,000 in Social Security benefits designated for her mother, who died in 2006, prosecutors said. Ebony Benson, 34, was sentenced Thursday in Suffolk Superior Court to three years of probation and ordered to pay back the funds she took from her dead mother's account, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley's office said today. She had been charged with two counts of larceny over $250 by single scheme.

It used to be that the Social Security Administration (SSA) sent everyone over the age of 25 an estimate of their expected Social Security benefit once retired. These statements were sent out once per year and they generally arrived three months before the recipient's birthday. However, in April of this year, the SSA stopped sending out paper estimates for workers under age 60. At the time, the move was viewed as temporary -- a way to save money given the government's fiscal constraints.

During one of my recent online discussions, a lot of people had thoughts about retirement. One had me laughing out loud. "I think my wife and I have found the answer to having enough money at retirement," a reader wrote. The gentleman went on to write: "Experts say you need 70 percent of your working income in retirement. So I am quitting and letting my wife work. Now we need $35,000 less a year in retirement and our savings are now enough. " "That's just my way of saying no one knows for sure what you need and there are no magic formulas," he...

During one of my recent online discussions, a lot of people had thoughts about retirement. One had me laughing out loud. "I think my wife and I have found the answer to having enough money at retirement," a reader wrote. The gentleman went on to write: "Experts say you need 70 percent of your working income in retirement. So I am quitting and letting my wife work. Now we need $35,000 less a year in retirement and our savings are now enough. " "That's just my way of saying no one knows for sure what you need and there are no magic formulas," he...

A Dorchester woman has been convicted of charges that she accepted more than $20,000 in Social Security benefits designated for her mother, who died in 2006, prosecutors said. Ebony Benson, 34, was sentenced Thursday in Suffolk Superior Court to three years of probation and ordered to pay back the funds she took from her dead mother's account, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley's office said today. She had been charged with two counts of larceny over $250 by single scheme.

WASHINGTON - President Obama called on Congress yesterday to approve $250 payments to more than 50 million seniors to make up for no increase in Social Security next year. The White House put the cost at $13 billion. The Social Security Administration is scheduled to announce today that there will be no cost-of-living increase in January. By law, increases are pegged to inflation, which has been negative this year. It would mark the first year without an increase in Social Security payments since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975.

MEXICO CITY -- For the 14 years he worked as an undocumented migrant in the United States, Carmelo Rivera saw up to $30 deducted each week from the $300 to $500 he earned as a vineyard worker. The deductions were supposed to pay for his retirement. But like millions of other Mexicans who worked under false Social Security numbers, he is unlikely ever to see a penny of it. In fact, if a group of US congressmen has their way, undocumented migrants would be permanently barred from ever seeking to reclaim tens of billions they paid into...

WASHINGTON - The financial health of Social Security and Medicare, the government's two biggest benefit programs, have worsened because of the severe recession, and Medicare is now paying out more than it receives. Trustees of the programs said yesterday that Social Security will start paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes in 2016, one year sooner than was projected last year, and the giant trust fund will be depleted by 2037, four years sooner than projected.

A RECENT report by the Social Security Board of Trustees that the system's trust funds could be exhausted by 2033 — three years earlier than the prior year's estimate — ought to be a wake-up call for Democrats and Republicans to put country above party. It's time to stop kicking the can down the road and work together toward a goal we all share: retirement security. As Americans live longer and our population ages, we need a reliable retirement system with strong public and private elements.

It used to be that the Social Security Administration (SSA) sent everyone over the age of 25 an estimate of their expected Social Security benefit once retired. These statements were sent out once per year and they generally arrived three months before the recipient's birthday. However, in April of this year, the SSA stopped sending out paper estimates for workers under age 60. At the time, the move was viewed as temporary -- a way to save money given the government's fiscal constraints.

WASHINGTON - President Obama called on Congress yesterday to approve $250 payments to more than 50 million seniors to make up for no increase in Social Security next year. The White House put the cost at $13 billion. The Social Security Administration is scheduled to announce today that there will be no cost-of-living increase in January. By law, increases are pegged to inflation, which has been negative this year. It would mark the first year without an increase in Social Security payments since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's budget calls for the elimination of a $255 lump-sum death payment that has been part of Social Security for more than 50 years and urges Congress to drop monthly survivor benefits for 16- and 17-year-old high school dropouts. The two proposals could save a combined $3.4 billion in the next decade, according to administration estimates. Any attempt to reduce Social Security benefits -- no matter how small -- could face intense opposition in Congress in an election year.

MEXICO CITY -- For the 14 years he worked as an undocumented migrant in the United States, Carmelo Rivera saw up to $30 deducted each week from the $300 to $500 he earned as a vineyard worker. The deductions were supposed to pay for his retirement. But like millions of other Mexicans who worked under false Social Security numbers, he is unlikely ever to see a penny of it. In fact, if a group of US congressmen has their way, undocumented migrants would be permanently barred from ever seeking to reclaim tens of billions they paid into Social...

FRAMINGHAM - The uncle of President Obama arrested here last week on drunken driving and other charges has been a fugitive from deportation since 1992, according to two federal law enforcement officials with knowledge of the case. Onyango Obama, who is from Kenya and is known as the president's Uncle Omar on his father's side, had lived a quiet life in Massachusetts until last Wednesday, when police said the car he was driving darted in front of a police cruiser, nearly causing the officer to hit his car. The federal officials, who spoke about Obama's immigration status on condition of...

A top congressional budget staffer told a gathering of public policy specialists and disability advocates that they should "come up with prudent reforms" to the $10 billion Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program for disabled children if they want it to be spared more drastic measures that might be considered in these deficit-cutting times. "I would argue that there's a whole bunch of reasons to think the folks in this room will play an instrumental role in developing further reforms to the SSI program -- and you really...