Off the Kiplinger website – http://www.kiplinger.com
Years ago, the fellow running the IRS told Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine that he figured millions of taxpayers overpaid their taxes every year by overlooking just one of the money-savers listed here.
We’ve updated all the key details in this popular slide show to ensure that your 2015 return is a money-saving masterpiece. Cut your tax bill to the bone by claiming all the breaks you deserve.
Check out the deductions here
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Did you carry your FEGLI coverage into retirement? Are life insurance premiums coming out of your annuity payment every month? If so, this change may apply to you. As of January 1, 2016, premiums for many options and age brackets under the FEGLI program will change due to actuarial adjustments. The new premium charts can be viewed at: https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/special-notices/2016-fegli-premium-chang e.pdf. You can reduce or cancel coverage at any time but annuitants cannot increase coverage, even during an open season. If you elect to reduce or cancel all or any part of your FEGLI coverage, that election is irrevocable. Following is a summary of the effect on the various options you may be carrying: Premiums for Basic coverage, which is your final salary rounded to the next thousand plus $2,000, are the same regardless of age but have three reduction schedules, one of which you chose at retirement. For Basic coverage with a 75% Reduction schedule, premium rates are not changing at this time, and your coverage remains free after age 65. However, if you elected a 50% Reduction or No Reduction schedule for your Basic coverage, those premiums are going up. Option A is a straight $10,000 for most annuitants. Option A premium rates, computed for $10,000 of coverage, increase every five years up to age 65. At age 65, Option A is free and starts to reduce until it reaches 25% of its original value. Premium rates for all Option A age brackets up to age 59 are decreasing with this change. The final age bracket (60-64) is staying the same. Option B is your final salary rounded to the next thousand times up to five multiples. Option B premium rates, computed per $1,000 of coverage, are decreasing for most age brackets. Premiums for age 34-and-under, 35-39 and 75-79 stay the same. Only 80-and-over premiums are going up. Option C, Family, is $5,000 of coverage on your spouse and $2,500 on eligible children times up to 5 multiples. Option C premiums are per multiple with the same age brackets as Option B. Option C premium rate changes are variable, some up, some down, some staying the same. For annuitants, the new premiums will first appear in your February 1, 2016 annuity payment, which covers January 1, 2016 to January 31, 2016. |
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After you compete this short registration process, you get a notification email every time there is a new posting. The email has a quick teaser of the posting, along with tags that indicate how the posting relates to special topics/areas. There is a direct link to the website (Read more of this post)
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Thanks to these Retiree News readers who registered to “Follow Blog via Email”: Kent Tsutsumi
Thanks for the following new registered readers whose email address did not include a recognizable name: msumile62
Clayton Eu Mung Yuen, 72, of Mililani, Hawaii, passed away November 25, 2015 in Aiea, Hawaii. Born September 20, 1943. Retired from Hawaii Air National Guard.
He is survived by wife, Sandra T. Yuen; son, Cameron (Laurie Maruyuma) Yuen; daughter, Joell Yuen; brothers, Harvey Yuen, Rodney Yuen.
Visitation 8:30 a.m. Saturday (Jan 23) at Mililani Mortuary Mauka Chapel; memorial service 9:30 a.m. Burial to follow 10:30 a.m. Mililani Memorial Park. In lieu of a monetary gift, please make a donation to a charity of your choice. Casual attire. No flowers, please.
Taking aspirin has both potential health benefits and possible risks, like bleeding. Daily aspirin therapy reduces the risk of heart attacks in patients with a prior history.
Discover how the benefits of aspirin differ for men and women.
The Pentagon is fundamentally changing the way it recognizes service in a combat zone by tightening the criteria for awarding the Bronze Star and creating a new “C” device that can be pinned to other traditionally noncombat awards.
The changes stem from a two-year internal Pentagon review aimed at modernizing the military medals and awards system; the final report includes 37 recommended changes made public last Wednesday.
Tsutomu “Tom” Kaneshige, 87, of Paauilo, Hawaii, a retired Hamakua Sugar Co. garage overseer, part-time bus driver and automotive maintenance employee for Laupahoehoe Transportation Co. and an Army National Guard veteran, passed away on January 4, 2016 in the Queen’s Medical Center. He was born in Ookala, Hawaii.
He is survived by wife Julia, daughters Jill Chavez and Jan Warnecke, sister Kiyoko Keamo, three grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandchild.
Private services. No flowers. No monetary offerings.
Great story on BG Suzanne P. Vares Lum in the January 13, 2016 issue of Midweek.
Read the story on here, the article is on page six.
As your parents grow older, they might find it more difficult to manage their bank accounts. The consequences can pile up quickly: unpaid bills, inactive account fees and steep overdraft charges.
Your parents might be reluctant to ask for assistance — after all, they’re used to helping you out and not the other way around — so you’ll probably have to initiate the conversation. Once you’ve convinced them you should be involved in their finances, shift your attention to the following tasks.
Wired Magazine has a monthly feature called “What’s Inside”, where their staff researches and shares the ingredients of some of your favorite products.
We breakdown the science of strike-anywhere matches to see what makes sparks fly.
Thomas Jefferson
In 1770, at the age of 27, the Governor of Virginia appointed Thomas Jefferson as the county lieutenant, with the rank of colonel, of the Albemarle County Militia. Colonel Jefferson was responsible for all militia affairs in the county including insuring that the Albermarle County Regiment of Militia drilled on a regular basis, that the regimental and company muster rolls were kept up, and that militia fines were collected by the sheriff. Jefferson also presided over courts-martial and councils of war.
With the start of the Revolutionary War, Colonel Jefferson’s military duties increased. He reported directly to the governor in preparing the county militia for mobilization. Jefferson was also responsible for providing militia soldiers as replacements for the Virginia regiments of the Continental Army.
He found the time to represent Virginia at the Continental Congress which adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, written almost entirely by Jefferson. Elected governor in 1779, Jefferson resigned his militia commission.
As commander-in-chief of the Virginia militia, he mobilized the militia to reinforce the Continental Army in the Southern campaign which ended in victory at Yorktown on October 19, 1781. Jefferson later served as Minister to France, Secretary of State and Vice President. Architect, scholar, statesman and citizen-soldier.
Thomas Jefferson became the third president of the United States in 1801.
The 154th Wing has restarted publication of the Kūkā‘ilimoku. The highlights of the January 2016 issue:
+ Fighting IS
+ Commander’s Call
+ HIANG Info
Leonard M. “Ollie” Oliveira, 84, of Kaneohe, a retired Hawaii Air National Guard aircraft mechanic and an Air Force veteran, passed away on January 3, 2016. He was born in Hilo.
He is survived by wife Evelyn V., son Paul M., daughters Marian K. Oliveira and Stephanie L. Whalen, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Visitation: 10:30 a.m. Jan. 20 at St. Ann Catholic Church. Services: 11:30 a.m. Burial: 1 p.m. at Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery, Kaneohe.
A great individual who was a fixture on the fighter flightline and hanger. Aloha Pumehana Ollie.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court on Monday tossed out a veteran’s conviction for wearing military medals he didn’t earn, saying it was a form of free speech protected by the Constitution.
A specially convened 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the First Amendment allows people to wear unearned military honors.
Elven Joe Swisher of Idaho was convicted in 2007 of violating the Stolen Valor Act, which made it a misdemeanor to falsely claim military accomplishments. President George W. Bush signed it into law in 2006, but the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down in 2012 as a violation of free speech protections.
Investigators looked into Swisher’s military claims after he testified at the 2005 trial of a man charged with soliciting the murder of a federal judge. Swisher wore a Purple Heart on the witness stand.
Swisher testified that David Roland Hinkson offered him $10,000 to kill the federal judge presiding over Hinkson’s tax-evasion case. Swisher said Hinkson was impressed after Swisher boasted that he killed “many men” during the Korean War.
Prosecutors say Swisher enlisted in the Marine Corps a year after the Korean War ended but was never wounded in the line of duty. Swisher was honorably discharged in 1957, and discharge documents indicate that he didn’t receive any medals, according to the 9th Circuit ruling.
During his 2007 trial, prosecutors showed the jury a photograph of Swisher wearing several military medals and awards, including the Silver Star, Navy and Marine Corps Ribbon, Purple Heart, and the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with a Bronze “V.”
Swisher’s attorney Joseph Horras of Boise, Idaho, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Monday.
After the Stolen Valor Act was struck down, Congress passed a new law making it a crime to profit financially by lying about military service. President Barack Obama signed it in 2013.
“Whoever, with intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit, fraudulently holds oneself out to be a recipient of a decoration or medal described in subsection (c)(2) or (d) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than one year, or both.” – Stolen Valor Act of 2013
After Swisher’s conviction, Congress removed a provision making it illegal to wear unearned medals
