For your reading pleasure, the outcome of a google search, and I’ve only skimmed, not read the methodology: “REPLACEMENT RATES FOR HYPOTHETICAL RETIRED WORKERS” from the Social Security Administration Office of the Chief Actuary. Read more
For your reading pleasure, the outcome of a google search, and I’ve only skimmed, not read the methodology: “REPLACEMENT RATES FOR HYPOTHETICAL RETIRED WORKERS” from the Social Security Administration Office of the Chief Actuary. Read more
From the New York Times, “A Hearing on Housing in Detroit Draws a Reluctant Crowd,” via The American Interest, via Instapundit.com: Michigan in 1999 changed the way its local governments deal with people who fail to pay their property taxes, replacing a system of tax liens with foreclosure. Yet the number of foreclosures did not reach what advocates here view as a crisis level until years later, when the national recession hastened the city’s problems with blighted properties and population... Read more
One of the pieces of advice that’s floating around at the moment, with respect to retirement, is to delay collecting your Social Security benefits as long as possible. The logic here is unassailable: even though “full retirement age” has increased to age 66 for people now hitting retirement age, and will be 67 soon (year-of-birth 1960 and later), people still think of the old Social Security normal retirement age (and still the Medicare eligibility age) as “Retirement Age,” and think... Read more
The operating narrative about the Obama administration’s failure to gain public acceptance of its “let’s tax 529 plans” proposal has become this: this shows that tax reform is doomed, because no one will relinquish their tax breaks, even if it doesn’t really help them all that much. Reihan Salam says this, most recently, in a Slate column posted Friday: Many smart people—the libertarian Peter Suderman of Reason, the neoliberal Josh Barro of the New York Times, and conservative Patrick Brennan... Read more
Here in Chicago, as I’ve mentioned before, the city is tripping over itself in its eagerness to offer up to Obama a presidential library set on city parkland — and not just any parkland, but one of the major parks of the city. Skeptics who point out that there are multiple non-park sites available, including the vacant land formerly the site of the Michael Reese Hospital, close to the lakefront, midway between downtown and the Hyde Park area, but it’s... Read more
(Originally written 1/27) “God has a plan.” “It just was/wasn’t meant to be.” “Everything works out for good.” Do you believe that? Me, not so much. Periodically, I’ll say that my husband was “destined to come to the U.S.” (the backstory for less-than-dedicated-readers is that he came her for grad school and stuck around after we met) because, for all his Germanness, his name is a fairly familiar one to the English-speaking world, unlike the rest of his family... Read more
Too old for day camp, too young for a summer job. Doesn’t have a group of friends to just hang out with all day. Would drive work-at-home me crazy if he just hung out around the house all day. The school district summer school seems to be exclusively for kids that need to make up failing grades; no “enrichment”-type classes that I can see. The local community college has a summer program for kids 8 – 14, and 16+ is... Read more
Just something I was playing around with yesterday; I’m not sure why, but it started with one of the boys asking about my parents’ ancestry. My grandfather was a Greek immigrant, so — fun fact — if I wasn’t already married to a citizen of an EU country, I could apply for Greek citizenship, at least, if this website is correct. The kids couldn’t, though; they’re too far removed. My grandmother was of Irish descent, but her Irish-immigrant ancestors had... Read more
Don’t tell me you don’t recognize him! Star Trek: Voyager and I go way back — it was how my husband and I first got to know each other, when a group of us got together to watch the show. And, in Germany, one of the secondary networks aired Voyager, and it was wonderful German language practice, because, just as in the original, the actors all enunciated their words clearly, and, besides, it’s easy to have a basic grasp... Read more
So on Sunday, with respect to the Obama administration’s proposal to tax 529 plan earnings (effectively destroying the plans), I said, “I don’t see another way to read the administration’s proposal other than an abandonment of the idea that families should save for their children’s college, rather than relying on government giveaways, loans, and loan forgiveness afterwards.” It’s now been reported in multiple spots that the administration has dropped this proposal. Here’s the AP, via abcnews.com: “The White House said Tuesday... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In