If The Recession Is Over, What Does This Mean To New Seniors?
The government announced that the country is out of the Great Recession.
In fact, it's said that the recovery occurred last year.
Funny, but many New Seniors haven't noticed anything that might suggest the economy is better today than it was when the current group of politicians took office nearly two years ago.
How about you? Social Security benefits are under a two year COLA (Cost Of Living Adjustment) freeze.
Medicare will be slashing $500 billion in the years ahead, which will undoubtedly cut care and the quality of these services.
The possibility of extending the current tax cuts for those earning under $200,000 does nothing new.
But not extending them is, in effect, a tax increase.
Raising the capital gains tax by 5 percentage points (from 15% to 20%) is not a 5% increase, it's more than a 33% increase.
New Seniors worked hard to earn this money for our retirements, so such a tax leaves us with less to live on.
Still looming on the horizon are higher energy costs through the cap and trade tax.
Then, there's the possibility of the VAT (Value Added Tax), which will increase the cost of everything we buy.
The tax hikes are heaped on top of the losses many New Seniors were forced to accept when our investment portfolios tanked a couple of years ago and are yet to recover to previous highs.
Plus home values have dropped.
So our overall net worth is less.
Now the politicians want to eliminate the death tax exemptions; thereby making it almost impossible to leave much to our heirs, especially if you own a small business or a family farm.
When will we get a break? If you're still working, you might want to consider holding on to the job, if you can.
Those of us who are retired can't go back into the workplace at the salary levels of just a few years back.
So if we need additional money just to make ends meet it must come from savings, if we're lucky enough to have savings; or we may have to take a job paying a lower wage, if we can find one.
No wonder many New Seniors are concerned about outliving their money with the shadow of inflation waiting to come forward.
Have you spoken with your family and others who might be able to advise you about financial matters? Do you need to make lifestyle changes? Are you willing to do whatever it takes? Most folks who have been retired for a few years and don't have a guaranteed pension are coming to the realization that interest, dividends and Social Security are not enough.
So, it's time to develop a new plan.
Those who have already created a better way to play the cards we've been dealt have something to share with the New Seniors community.
This is the time to tell the people at NewSeniors.
com what you're doing in order to live a comfortable life, whether we're in a recession or not.
After all, we've experienced difficulty in past years and survived, so let's help each other ride out the current financial storm.
In fact, it's said that the recovery occurred last year.
Funny, but many New Seniors haven't noticed anything that might suggest the economy is better today than it was when the current group of politicians took office nearly two years ago.
How about you? Social Security benefits are under a two year COLA (Cost Of Living Adjustment) freeze.
Medicare will be slashing $500 billion in the years ahead, which will undoubtedly cut care and the quality of these services.
The possibility of extending the current tax cuts for those earning under $200,000 does nothing new.
But not extending them is, in effect, a tax increase.
Raising the capital gains tax by 5 percentage points (from 15% to 20%) is not a 5% increase, it's more than a 33% increase.
New Seniors worked hard to earn this money for our retirements, so such a tax leaves us with less to live on.
Still looming on the horizon are higher energy costs through the cap and trade tax.
Then, there's the possibility of the VAT (Value Added Tax), which will increase the cost of everything we buy.
The tax hikes are heaped on top of the losses many New Seniors were forced to accept when our investment portfolios tanked a couple of years ago and are yet to recover to previous highs.
Plus home values have dropped.
So our overall net worth is less.
Now the politicians want to eliminate the death tax exemptions; thereby making it almost impossible to leave much to our heirs, especially if you own a small business or a family farm.
When will we get a break? If you're still working, you might want to consider holding on to the job, if you can.
Those of us who are retired can't go back into the workplace at the salary levels of just a few years back.
So if we need additional money just to make ends meet it must come from savings, if we're lucky enough to have savings; or we may have to take a job paying a lower wage, if we can find one.
No wonder many New Seniors are concerned about outliving their money with the shadow of inflation waiting to come forward.
Have you spoken with your family and others who might be able to advise you about financial matters? Do you need to make lifestyle changes? Are you willing to do whatever it takes? Most folks who have been retired for a few years and don't have a guaranteed pension are coming to the realization that interest, dividends and Social Security are not enough.
So, it's time to develop a new plan.
Those who have already created a better way to play the cards we've been dealt have something to share with the New Seniors community.
This is the time to tell the people at NewSeniors.
com what you're doing in order to live a comfortable life, whether we're in a recession or not.
After all, we've experienced difficulty in past years and survived, so let's help each other ride out the current financial storm.