The government warned on Tuesday that Social Security and Medicare will be insolvent sooner than previously expected. The trustees’ annual report revealed that Social Security will be paying out more money than it receives by 2016 (a year sooner than prior projections). Medicare is already doing the same.
Unless changes are made, the Social Security retirement fund will be depleted by 2037 and the Medicare trust fund will be insolvent in 2017. Additionally, Social Security recipients are not expected to get cost-of-living increases in 2010 or 2011. Cost-of-living increases have happened each year since 1975.
“We should neither be casual nor hysterical …read more

In San Diego, 1,039 San Diego Unified School District employees agreed to retire in exchange for an extra year’s pay. The deadline to enter the early retirement program was 5:00pm on Friday and 592 teachers were among those who decided to retire.
The early retirement program is part of an effort by the district to reduced at $146.7 million deficit. The district, which has a $2.1 billion budget, is the second most populous in the state of California with 130,000 students.
Around the country, many school districts, as well as other companies, are giving employees the option to retire early. Many people …read more

Retirement is on the mind of many people across the country. Because of the economic crisis, more and more people are putting off retirement and working longer, while others are scrambling to find ways to achieve financial security as they near retirement age. Let’s take a look at some of the top retirement news stories from around the internet this week.

Ranks of Older Workers Swell as Losses Shorten Retirement – The Wall Street Journal
Men and Women Face Distinct Retirement Challenges – Planning to Retire (US News & World Report blog)
Senior citizens await $250 stimulus – The Republican
NY Common Retirement Fund …read more