How to do business with the Social Security Administration during the current chaos The Social Security Administration’s ability to transact business with the public has been deteriorating for more than a decade. But the unprecedented shakeup and downsizing launched last year by the ...

In the newsletter: navigating the beleaguered SSA during the current customer service metldown, my take on the DoL rule impacting private equity investments in 401k plans ... and more.
retirementrevised.substack.com/p/how-to-do-...

Always great talking with Steve Chen @boldinmoney.bsky.social. In this new podcast, we discuss the future of Social Security and Medicare.

Medicare Advantage ‘Dark Money’ Group Attempts To Win Higher Payments for Insurance Companies - KFF Health News Medicare Advantage insurers say a proposal by the Trump administration to keep their payments nearly flat next year may lead to service cuts that harm seniors struggling to afford health care. A decis...

A Medicare Advantage “dark money” group flooded a federal website with thousands of form letters urging more dollars for health plans.

The move comes as a proposal by the Trump administration would keep insurance payments nearly flat next year.

The hidden costs of working while receiving Social Security Retiring and claiming Social Security may sound like moves people make at the same time.

Working at a later age can be a great choice - but if you receive Social Security benefits at the same time, there can be some surprise tax consequences. I explore how it works in my latest Morningstar column (Substack newsletter link below).
open.substack.com/pub/retireme...

Social Security is directing employees who normally process benefits to answer phones instead After shedding thousands of employees, SSA is reassigning workers amid fears the moves will cause backlogs to grow.

Read the full article on here:
@govexec.bsky.social

It’s Been Called the ‘Sistine Chapel of the New Deal.’ Don’t Destroy It.

Kudos to @socialsecurityworks.org for keeping this threat in the news. Now it’s a full page and a half in the NYT arts section. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/a...

7 Numbers Shaping Retirement in 2026

Latet for the NYT - seven trends in retirement to watch in 2026. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/b...

Dean Baker | Substack Senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, dog lover, and new resident of Astoria, Oregon.

open.substack.com/pub/deanbake...

Social Security Announces a 2.8% Cost-of-Living Increase for Beneficiaries

The Social Security COLA for 2026 is 2.8%. I examined what it means for beneficiaries with varying wealth levels for the NYT. Gift link:

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/b...

👇👇👇

Trump plan would limit disability benefits for older Americans Trump administration officials are considering eliminating age as a factor in deciding whether someone is capable of working.

A former OMB official said the change could mean "750,000 fewer people would receive benefits in the next decade... and 80,000 fewer widows and children would receive benefits due to loss in eligibility of a spouse or parent"

A Meryl Kornfield/Lisa Rein scoop

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

In addition to blocking important enrollment simplifications for the Medicare Savings Programs, the #Medicaid cost shifts to states will likely lead to other cuts affecting low-income people on Medicare including cuts to long-term care especially home- and community-based care.

One way the "beautiful bill" does touch Medicare Millions of poor seniors lost an easier path to help with costs

The OBBBA doesn’t reduce standard Medicare benefits, but it pauses a rule easing the path for low income seniors to get crucial help with costs. Millions will miss out.

open.substack.com/pub/retireme...

Without a doubt.

Social Security turns 90 today, and the program is at a crossroads Financial solvency and customer service crisis both need attention

The very idea of retirement was created 90 years ago today, when FDR signed Social Security into law. So was the era of social insurance. Today the program is at a crossroads.
open.substack.com/pub/retireme...

Retirees, Get Ready to Need Long-Term Care. Here’s What to Know.

My latest for the NYT - the coming long term care collision. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/24/b...

The Bond Market Is Waking Up to the Fiscal Mess in Washington With the U.S. economy close to full capacity, more borrowing adds inflationary pressure, and so could lead the Fed to keep rates higher for longer.

This (gift link)👇
www.wsj.com/finance/inve...

Tracking the Medicaid Provisions in the 2025 Reconciliation Bill | KFF KFF is tracking the Medicaid provisions in the 2025 federal budget bill, including new Medicaid work and verification requirements and a reduction in the expansion match rate for states that use their...

@kff.org has an updated summary of Medicaid provisions in the "big beautiful bill." www.kff.org/tracking-the...

Broken Promises: Republicans’ Budget Reconciliation Bill Would Cut Medicare - Justice in Aging The OBBBA takes direct aim at Medicare, gutting eligibility and restricting access to benefits, while also cutting Medicaid in ways that would harm people who are dually eligible for both programs. Fo...

Medicare was supposed to be left untouched in the budget reconciliation. But that's not the case. Read more from @nataliekean.bsky.social & Julie Carter on how Medicare enrollees will be harmed. And call your lawmakers - the House is set to vote soon! 866-426-2631 justiceinaging.org/broken-promi...

Thread: Latest House GOP reconciliation bill language again makes the draconian #Medicaid cuts harsher. For example, mandatory work requirements now will take effect 12/31/26 instead of 1/1/29 and states have option to implement them earlier (1/x)

Figure 2: Work status for adults receiving Medicaid, 2023

Take away people already working, attending school or caregiving, and vey few Medicaid recipients are left. www.brookings.edu/interactive/...

Trump and GOP’s tax bill would force cuts to Medicare, CBO says Some $500 billion in cuts to Medicare could be avoided if Congress instructs the White House budget office to disregard the reconciliation package’s debt impact.

The plot thickens.

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

The Advantage industry already covers more than half of Medicare enrollees, and is projected to cover 2/3 by 2034. @georgejoseph94.bsky.social @theguardian.com

Robert Johnson would be pleased.

Opinion | What Social Security Could Teach DOGE About Efficiency It spends only around 0.5% on overhead, compared with 20% for private insurers.

You want to see government efficiency? Check out the Social Security Administration before Elon and the DOGE bros showed up. They could have learned something...

www.wsj.com/opinion/what...

This thread by @kathleenromig.bsky.social sums up very well why "flat funding" for the Social Security Administration actually is a harmful cut.

Employee cuts at Social Security are leaving remaining workers struggling to keep up Social Security employees are feeling "overwhelmed" and wait times for phone services are up as workforce cuts from the Trump administration are being felt throughout the agency.

Some SSA field offices have lost half of their staff at the same time DOGE is forcing more people to visit the offices to transact business. How's that going to go? www.npr.org/2025/04/26/n...

I guess this December Bezos/NYT interview hasn't aged all that well: "But Mr. Bezos said he believed that Mr. Trump had “grown” over the past eight years. “What I’ve seen so far is he is calmer than he was the first time — more confident, more settled,” he said. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/b...

Does anyone think Tesla's fortunes will improve if Musk just gets back to running the company? His toxic personal brand *is* the problem. The only solution left is to merge with another car maker and buy him out. Hello, institutional shareholders?

What leadership looks and sounds like.