The Singapore News Online, Breaking News, Latest News & Headlines

     From the Columbus Dispatch : People with developmental or intellectual disabilities often face the prospect of losing a portion of their disability benefits if they marry. Sherri and Bill Adams finally were able to wed this month after a years-long fight, and they�re pushing for a law to help others. ... But the so-called marriage penalty remains an obstacle for many couples in the United States. The new Mr. and Mrs. Adams, who took their fight to marry public with an online petition drive in 2016 , vow to keep pushing for what they and others see as a matter of civil rights. �Although we found a loophole in our situation, we will not give up,� Bill said. �There are a lot of couples who are still unable to get married, and that is still not right.� The disability community�s long-running battle for change gained support last year with bipartisan legislation introduced in Congress to protect the federal benefits of people with intellectual or developme...

    Tom Margenau has written a syndicated column giving advice on dealing with Social Security. Mostly I agree with him but the column is an example of how something that is good advice for most people can be misleading for others.      Margenau recounts complaints from Social Security employees about claimants who call in to file claims for widows benefits who haven't bothered to find their husband's Social Security number (SSN) before calling. He says to find it before calling. Great advice for most people but what if you can't find that number? What if you were separated and lack access to any of your late spouse's records? What if you're divorced but were married long enough to get surviving divorced spouse benefits? Are you barred from filing a claim since you lack the SSN? No, you can still file the claim. Social Security can look up the SSN. It's certainly better to save their time by finding the SSN if you can but if you can't Social Security ...