Laura Gamba, an instructor on many aspects of balance and well-being, and previous guest presenter at the Jan 2023 monthly meeting, concluded instructing a number of out members on balance and wellness (Feb-Mar Class). The class was a great success.
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Many of our members are receiving SS benefits while others will be considering claiming their SS benefits in the near future. There is an online website created by financial and tax expert Mike Piper (see bio below) which is called "Open Social Security". His website has a SS strategy calculator, along with various SS articles, that is worth checking out given your specific situation and needs. The calculator runs the math for each possible claiming age (or, if you're married, each possible combination of claiming ages) and reports back, telling you which strategy is expected to provide the most total spendable dollars over your lifetime. Please note that this calculator should not be the only analysis you do, as there are various factors that it does not consider, such as:
Bio: Mike Piper is the primary author of the calculator. Mike is a CPA in St. Louis, Missouri. He is the author of ten financial books, as well as the popular blog "Oblivious Investor." He is an occasional public speaker (usually about Social Security or tax planning), and he has been quoted as a Social Security expert in numerous publications (e.g., Wall Street Journal, AARP, Kiplinger, and several others). The PACT Act is perhaps the largest health care and benefits expansion in VA history. The full name of the law is The Sergeant First Class (SFC) Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act.
Veteran-Directed Care is for Veterans who need assistance with activities of daily living (e.g., bathing and getting dressed) or instrumental activities of daily living (e.g., fixing meals); are isolated, or their caregiver is experiencing burden. Veterans in this program are given a flexible budget for services that can be managed by the Veteran or the family caregiver. Veteran-Directed Care can be used to help Veterans continue to live at home or in their community. Eligibility: VDC is part of the Veterans Health Administration Standard Medical Benefits Package. The program is available to Veterans who are in need of nursing home level of care, regardless of service connection or wartime era. Go to the Aging Resources website (agingresources.org) for complete details regarding this VA Health Administration program for all veterans, service-connected or otherwise. In keeping with what the above is all about, please look at another resource that is useful on aging known as "Elder Affairs" (official State of Florida organization). They have a quarterly newsletter called "Aging Outlook" and is distributed electronically, directly to subscribers’ emails. The next issue is expected in late Spring 2023. For now, click on the button below to review the Winter 2022 issue. It's very enlightening and useful, even if you are not concerned about aging at the moment, eventually, all of our members will face this issue if not already. Do you have questions about the new PACT Act health care or compensation benefits eligibility?
The PACT Act was perhaps the largest expansion of Veteran eligibility in VA’s history. |