The Federal Government announced that Social Security recipients will get a 3.6% increase in benefits next year, the first increase since 2009. The increase applies to checks for 2012. Since 1975, benefits have been tied to inflation and almost always went up, but the recession of the last few years has left the inflation index lower or unchanged, so Social Security benefits were unchanged in 2010 and 2011, as well (they can't go down). But, this doesn't mean what you get will actually go up, there will be increases in Medicare costs as well. Speaking of which, the open enrollment period for Medicare plans is going on right now (it started and ends earlier this year than in previous years) so it's time to review your plan and either stay with it, or pick a new one for next year.
Clifton B. Kruse , Jr., a revered elder law attorney who was admired as much for his kindness and generosity to fellow practitioners as for his grasp of the law, died December 30, 2008, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was 74. The cause was complications from Alzheimer's disease. For many in the field, Kruse set the standard for all that an elder law attorney can and should be. One of elder law's founding fathers, he combined a gentlemanly charm, warmth and caring with one of the sharpest and most ethical of legal minds. Wrote Arizona elder law attorney Robert Fleming in a tribute , "In my third of a century of elder law practice I have never met another lawyer who managed to pull together sophistication, heartfelt empathy, intellectual rigor and courtly manner in the same fashion Clifton Kruse projected. He did it, to all appearances, effortlessly. He was a friend and mentor to many in the elder law community (I count myself among those legions)." Kruse was the e...
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