Friday Financial Five – January 27, 2017

Friday, January 27, 2017
Dan Forbes, GoLocal Contributor

Future of Obamacare remains in doubt

While Republican leaders want health care reform, those changes can go in many directions. The movement to repeal it without a detailed replacement option may have lost steam. The popular pieces of the plan include the push to increase the number of people insured and coverage for pre-existing conditions. The exchanges may be removed and there will be a fight to open up insurance competition across state lines. In order to cover everyone, there needs to be a tax to subsidize the premiums but there’s disagreement about where those taxes will come from. Republicans know they don’t like the current plan, but there’s no consensus how to change it without leaving people uninsured or subject to skyrocketing premiums.

Social Security heading back to paperless

The method of disseminating Social Security benefits continues the merry-go-round. For years, recipients were accustomed to receiving paper statements. The SSA shifted to paperless in an effort to get people to sign up online. That was unsuccessful as those that are not computer savvy had issues, so there was another foray into sending paper statements. Now, Social Security is moving back to paperless in an effort to reduce costs by an estimated $11 million. Paper statements will only be sent to those 60 or older that haven’t signed up online and aren’t receiving benefits.

Navient sued for cheating borrowers

Navient, the largest company servicing student loans, is now being sued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB alleges fraud and contends that the company didn’t service the loans and provided incorrect information to those trying to pay them back. Navient, which services over $300 billion in student loans, noted that the suit may be politically motivated as it was filed before the Trump inauguration took place. 

DOL releases 2nd Fiduciary Rule FAQs 

The Labor Department’s fiduciary rule, scheduled to take effect on April 10th, faces a delay due to review by the Trump administration. Where it goes from there is anyone’s guess, but the Department of Labor did release another round of Frequently Asked Questions aimed at the general public. The article references resources for the public to get more information, including the CFP Board’s planner search and a financial questionnaire developed by AARP.

IRS warns of cyber scam

The IRS has issued a warning for tax preparers receiving e-mail requests to assist in the filing of tax returns. The cyber strategy is to pose as an individual looking for tax help. The professional responds and then receives a reply with a virus attached, either through an attached PDF file or faulty web link.. By clicking these corrupted links or files, the criminals collect information from the tax preparer’s computer. For this and several other financial scams, regulators continue to make cybersecurity a top priority.

 

Dan Forbes, a CFP Board Ambassador, is a regular contributor on financial issues. He leads the firm Forbes Financial Planning, Inc in East Greenwich, RI and can be reached at dforbes@forbesplanning.com.