US News says: “The annual hair shirt report of Social Security trustees was released on Tuesday. To no one’s surprise, our national retirement and health benefit programs are headed for perdition even more quickly than they were last year. Due to the recession, the effective bankruptcy date is 2037 for what’s technically called the Old-Age and Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Funds. That’s four years earlier than the forecast in last year’s report — no mean feat in only one year. Program expenses exceed revenues beginning in 2016 — that’s only seven years away, folks — and all assets are exhausted 21 years later.

And this, sadly, was the good news.

As the trustees said, “Medicare’s financial status is much worse.” It’s hospital insurance component (HI) already pays out more than it takes in, and is busily eating away at its assets as we speak. That tasty meal will be done in only eight years, at which time HI reserves will be zero,nada, zilch. The Medicare Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI ) Trust Fund operates closer to break even, which is good, because it doesn’t have much in the way of assets. The bad news is that the only way it comes close to breaking even is by levying annual increases in rates that are growing faster than the economy and the incomes of the people who rely on the fund to pay for their doctors and prescription drugs.” See article here:

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“Social Security payouts increased 5.8 percent this year. It was the largest cost-of-living increase in more than 25 years and increased the typical retiree’s check by approximately $63.

But don’t count on a boost in payments next year. A Congressional Budget Office report predicts that there will be no cost-of-living increases for Social Security beneficiaries in 2010 through 2012. Although it’s more difficult to make accurate calculations farther into the future, CBO also projects that, after 2012, future cost-of-living adjustments will be less than 2 percent until 2019.

There has never been a year without a cost-of-living increase since annual adjustments began in 1975. Past adjustments have ranged from a whopping 14.3 percent boost in 1980 to just 1.3 percent in both 1986 and 1998. Increases are tied to the consumer price index, a measure of the prices paid by urban consumers for goods and services.

Current Social Security recipients will get a small reprieve this year, though. Beneficiaries will recieve a one-time $250 payment in May 2009, due to a provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Read full story under this link:

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Since 2007, the majority of these survey respondents (80 percent) have not changed their plans. However, 17 percent indicated that they will now collect Social Security benefits later than originally planned, many because they are still working. Only 3 percent of the baby boomers indicated they would collect Social Security benefits earlier than originally planned. Top reasons include a disability (28 percent), health reasons (18 percent), and because they want to (8 percent). See story here:

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