Here’s an interesting credit crisis byproduct: The 50 million current Social Security recipients probably won’t see any extra SS income until 2012. In fact, millions on the government dime might see their monthly checks shrink.

It all boils down to COLA — the government’s cost-of-living adjustment. Since consumer prices are — in theory, at least — deflating, the Social Security administration announced this weekend that they do not plan on a COLA for the next two years. Should that forecast come true, it’ll be the first time that’s happened since at least 1975, when automatic increases were first implemented.

That will probably equate to a net monthly loss for millions of beneficiaries. Medicare prescription drug premiums are on track to bump up a few bucks next year — a major cost for

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In the latest developments of Hemispherx BioPharma, BioMedReports analyzes and dissects the latest article from TheStreet.com with an interview involving Dr. Carter. If you are an avid fan of Ampligen and have invested in Hemispherx, this read is definitely worth your time. Article published by M.E. Garza of BioMedReports.com

“What do we think CFS is?” Dr. William Reeves asked a worldwide audience watching his streaming video presentation from the meeting for the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee (CFSAC) of the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, DC. on Thursday. “It’s a complex illness, with alterations in complex homeostatic systems. It’s not the result of a single mutation or a single environmental factor. It comes from a combination of many factors: genetics, gender, stressors, immune stressors all interact.”

Reeves is chief of the U.S.

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Every time the United States goes through a recession, the pundits all race to be the first to proclaim that “Buy and Hold” is dead.  I can’t watch a financial news channel or read a financial website without some mention of this proclamation.  Well I’m growing tired of it, and if it were up to me, I’d prohibit anyone else from making this point for the rest of 2009.

Buy and Hold is not dead, and I’m on a mission to prove it.  Buy and Hold has worked brilliantly for decades, and it will continue to do so in the future.  The stock you bought in 2007 is worth less now than what you bought it for?  Oh boohoo, go cry me a river…somewhere else.  The economy has peaks and troughs, and we’re in the middle of one of the more serious

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What if there was an easy way to implement a whole new approach to retirement funding, pension planning, and Social Security? Would the politicians be interested? Let’s find out.

What if the new plan actually reduced payroll taxes, cut prices, created jobs, increased salaries, raised shareholder dividends, partially funded decreased healthcare costs, and was available to everyone?

Sound too good to be true, but it’s actually doable. The reasons for the present system’s failure are mostly political; the solutions are clear, practical, and non-partisan. What we want is a less expensive system for assuring that everyone is able to retire with an adequate income, higher than that provided now by Social Security.

What we need is a simple program, part mandatory and part voluntary, using experienced trustees who operate within the strictures of the prudent-man rule— a risk-minimizing legal doctrine that …

Dateline Raleigh, NC, November 6, 2008: Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives discuss confiscating our 401(k)s and IRAs, by Carolina Journal Online reporter Karen McMahan.

This shocking pronouncement is certainly an attention grabber, which if even partially true, would have an impact on nearly every employed and retired American. The basis for the report is testimony before the House Committee on Education and Labor in early October.

Dr. Teresa Ghilarducci is one of many witnesses (scholars, retirees, activists, an investment mogul, and benefits experts) who were interviewed by the committee members. (I was skipped over once again, but a receptive person in the HCEL was willing to forward a listing of my articles to the right person. I expect an invitation to testify momentarily)

McMahan writes: “Dr. Ghilarducci, professor of economic policy analysis at the New School for Social Research, …

In the depths of a bear market that has carved between $500 billion and $2 trillion from U.S. retirement accounts so far this year, as many as two-thirds of all Americans have stopped contributing to their retirement plans, a new study shows. And that’s precisely the wrong decision to make at the wrong time. No matter how poorly the financial markets are performing, saving for retirement has to remain a top priority. “It’s not a time for people to stop contributing,” Diane Young, director of retirement and goal planning at TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (AMTD), the Omaha, Neb.-based brokerage firm that conducted the retirement study, said in an interview with Bloomberg News. “Because time is money, it’s important to stay on track.” According to the Ameritrade study – released yesterday (Tuesday) – 63% of Americans have ...