"The ability to withstand major downturns in the economy is particularly important in retirement, yet extraordinarily difficult for today's retirees and those nearing retirement," says Johnson. "There are a number of factors that are reducing available retirement income from traditional sources," Johnson says. .Now, with the massive amounts of money being spent by Congress to deal with the coronavirus, which is all borrowed money, we cannot help but wonder what Congress will do when the trust funds for Social Security and Medicare become insolvent. There is still time to fix the programs if the trust funds remain as they are now but cutting the payroll would be devastating and would create a new crisis for seniors that we do not need and should not have to face. .Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact The Senior Citizens League at any time. .To make the COLA more fair and accurate, TSCL believes that Congress must fully implement the CPI-E, and use it to provide a more realistic annual benefit boost. We support a number of bills before Congress that would do just that, including the CPI-E Act (H.R. 1030), the Guaranteed 3% COLA Act (H.R. 1585), the CPI for Seniors Act (H.R. 2154), and the Social Security Guarantee Act (H.R. 1275). Each of them would go a long way in ensuring that seniors receive the retirement security they deserve. .The Social Security Trustees further estimate that .9 billion in revenues in 2020 would come from the taxation of Social Security benefits. "Yet those revenues are also likely to be lower, impacted by both large numbers of older Americans who lost income from jobs, as well as from lower distributions from retirement accounts that have lost value from last year," Johnson notes. Under the CARES Act, retirees are allowed to completely waive required minimum distributions for 2020 from retirement accounts. .How the Coronavirus Pandemic Is Affecting the Finances of Older Households .On Tuesday, with a vote of 31-8, the House Ways and Means Committee voted to advance the Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act (H.R. 1190) – a bill that TSCL supports enthusiastically. H.R. 1190, if signed into law, would repeal the controversial Medicare cost-cutting board that was created by the ACA back in 2010. .Fight to End Surprise Billing is Losing Key Ally .That does raise a fair question about conflict of interest: If something was not in the best interest of seniors but would raise millions of dollars for AARP through insurance sales, would AARP put principle ahead of profit?