As if voters don't have enough to be angry about this election year, the government is expected to announce this week that more than 58 million Social Security particpants will go through another year without an increase in their monthly benefits.

It would mark only the second year without an increase since automatic adjustments for inflation were adopted in 1975. The first year was this year.

The cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs, are automatically set each year by an inflation measure adopted by Congress back in the 1970s. Based on inflation so far this year, the trustees who oversee Social Security project say there will be no COLA for 2011.

The projection will be made official on Friday, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases inflation estimates for September. The timing couldn't be worse for Democrats as they approach an election in which they are in danger of losing their House majority, and possibly their Senate majority as well.



Your purchases will directly support local agriculture. There are now more than 5,200 farmers' markets in the country (find one near you at localharvest.org), and the numbers will continue to grow if we make them our personal Stop & Shops.

Get staples. Instead of only a handful of tomatoes, pick up onions, potatoes, and herbs.

Buy heirloom. It's not just a boutique marketing term. It describes vegetables, fruits, grains, and beans from seeds that have been passed down for generations, grown in small crops that may restore the health of the soil.

Stock up. Buy in bulk when produce is in season. Freeze it, pickle it , or preserve it, so you can still eat local when you have off-season cravings.


Read more at Wholeliving.com: Good To Know



 Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) web site.

The “Great Recession” has ended, officially.

At least, that's the word from the private, nonprofit research organization that calls the beginnings and endings of recessions, the National Bureau of Economic Research.

The NBER said last Monday that the recession which began in December 2007 ended in June 2009, which marked the beginning of an expansion. The announcement rules out the possibility of a so-called “double-dip” recession, because any new downturn would be seen as a brand new recession.

On Friday a small Florida bank was shut down by regulators bringing the total number of bank closings this year to 119 amid mounting loan defaults

Horizon Bank’s $164.6 million in deposits is going to be moved to Bank of the Ozarks, centered in Little Rock, Arkansas, based on an  announcement on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s website. The collapse of Horizon Bank is estimated to set the deposit insurance fund back $58.9 million. Horizon Bank is the 23rd financial institution to go under in Florida in 2010.

The number of bank failures is expected to peak this year and be slightly higher than the 140 that fell in 2009. That was the highest annual tally since 1992, at the height of the savings and loan crisis

Depositors' money - insured up to $250,000 per account - is not at risk, with the FDIC backed by the government. That insurance cap was made permanent in the financial overhaul law enacted in July.

Could flat abs be the secret to a successful retirement? It's not as far-fetched as it sounds.

A lack of abdominal, or core, strength correlates to higher cortisol levels and job stress that carries into retirement, researchers say. It can cut careers short and boost health expenses as it leads to a host of heart and other diseases, all of which affects our retirement bottom lines.

The research, being performed by an emeritus professor at the University of Arkansas, marks just one unusual way that chronic stress and other health issues can stick with us long after the job ends.

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PCGC), the federal government's pension insurer provides website information for people in defined-benefit plans that were terminated.  Remember, these are pension plans-not 401k benefits.

Type in your last name or the company's name at the PBGC website.

Vanguard provides 401k retirement plans to over 3 million participants.  Each year they look at the plans and particpants and provide a detailed report.  It's a 84 page document that has a lot of interesting info...Here's a look at the Vanguard 401k balances:

In 2009, the average account balance for Vanguard participants was $69,084; the median balance was $23,140.  The wide divergence between the median and the average balance is due to a small number of very large accounts that significantly raises the average above the median.

As a result of rising markets, median account balances for Vanguard participants grew by 33% in 2009,
compared with a decline of 31% in 2008.  However, account balances remain below 2006 levels.

How America Saves 2010

A Report On Vanguard 2009 Defined Contibution Plan Data

Your 401k retirement plan sends out periodic statements...or allows you to log in and look at the account.  I hope you monitor on a regular basis!

You'll probably see a summary of the investments and a "pie chart."  The pie chart shows the ratio of stocks, bonds and cash in your plan- the asset allocation.  The asset allocation is important.  If you're a long way from retirement the stock ratio should be higher...if you're closer to retirement stock ratios need to be scaled back.  And it's important to monitor the amount of company stock in your plan.

Here’s a suggestion: If company stock represents more than 50% of the total value of your 401(k) plan, you’re probably taking too much risk.  Diversifying into other investments within your 401(k) plan, like mutual funds that hold a portfolio of stocks and bonds, you can immediately cut risk. Make some adjustments!

NBA
NBA players have one of the most generous pension plans in all of professional sports. They are vested into their pension plans after playing at least three seasons in the league. The minimum benefit for a player that retires at the age of 62 is $56,988 - not a bad retirement for a three-year career. The maximum benefit for any player is $195,000, and it takes 11 years of NBA service to qualify for this benefit.

When the Senate allowed the estate tax to lapse at the end of last year, it encouraged wealthy people near death's door to stay alive until Jan. 1 so they could spare their heirs a 45% tax hit.

Now the situation has reversed: If Congress doesn't change the law soon—and many experts think it won't—the estate tax will come roaring back in 2011.

Not only will the top rate jump to 55%, but the exemption will shrink from $3.5 million per individual in 2009 to just $1 million in 2011, potentially affecting eight times as many taxpayers.

The math is ugly: On a $5 million estate, the tax consequence of dying a minute after midnight on Jan. 1, 2011 rather than two minutes earlier could be more than $2 million; on a $15 million estate, the difference could be about $8 million.