Medicare, Trumpcare, Obamacare

Anyone over the age of 55 gets a steady stream of insurance advertising materials, and anyone who watches television sees a steady stream of commercials for health care insurance.

Just because an advertising uses the word Medicare does not make it anything official, in fact most such advertising is suspicious. There are legitimate advertisements for Medicare supplements.  Be careful.

There is no such thing as "Trumpcare" and legally there is no such thing as "Obamacare," just a nickname.

And remember, cheap insurance is.......cheap, which means not good.

Paying for Tax Cuts

The Republicans passed massive tax cuts that will explode the deficit for the next decade (at least).

How to minimize the damage?

The House Republicans are proposing significant changes to Medicare, which will increase the out-of-pocket costs of most beneficiaries.

But didn't President Trump promise to protect Medicare?  This is now defined as "protecting Medicare."

Stay tuned.

Passwords

Too many people still have such passwords as "Password" or "12345" or names readily available on your Facebook.

There is a new theory about a safe password you can remember.

Take the first line from your favorite hymn, a Bible verse, a favorite song, a play you enjoy, or a book you treasure.

So if you like Amazing Grace:

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound becomes "Aghsts2018"

The 23rd Psalm becomes  Tlimsisnw2018.

Change the year annually, and change the password to another favorite at least annually.

It will be more difficult for hackers to guess these passwords, but the passwords can still be hacked from the web sourced.

Use Caution on Social Media

Why worry about your information on social media?

Facebook sold information on more than 250,000 accounts to a "researcher."

The "researcher" relayed the information to Cambridge Analytica (CA), a data analytic firm with a less than glorious reputation.

By linking friends from the original batch CA may have obtained data from as many as 50 million accounts, the data being used for unauthorized purposes for the Trump campaign.

So do not feel obligated or compelled to put everything about you on social media. Unless you want everyone on the planet to have that information.

Also.....

Do not announce your vacation on social media. It is an invitation to burglars. Same for hospitalizations. Do not post vacation pictures until you have returned home.

Do not make announcements about family or friends IF they may not want the information to be made public.

1-800-CHEAP-INSURANCE

The Trump administration is working to enable insurers to sell non-ACA compliant health insurance policies.

 So?

Cheap insurance is usually lousy insurance. People pay a lot for not very much coverage.

Buyer beware.

No, make that BUYER BEWARE!

Spoof Phone Calls

Many of us tend to answer local calls more quickly than we do 800 numbers and unknown area codes.

So now the scammers have something new - number spoofing.

A call will come in with a local area code and a familiar exchange (first three numbers). Problem is, it is telemarketing or worse.

Standard advice - let unknwn numbers go to voicemail, listen to the voicemail, and then return the call if you want to.

About that tax cut......

In February many in the middle class will receive slightly larger paychecks due to the tax cut bill passed in December.

Good news, right?

Maybe not.

The tax charts are based on "average taxpayers" and your situation will be different than many other taxpayers. Your employer cannot factor this into the calculation, not having detailed information. In truth, some taxpayers will get a tax cut and others will not.

You could end up owing money in April 2019. Best let your tax preparer make a "guesstimate" of your real tax liability and compare that against your withholding.