US Bureaucrats 'Kill' Thousands Each Year (by Typos)

Red tape and bureaucracy hinder efforts to buy repo'd properties

(NEWSER) - Bargain hunters are turning to foreclosed homes for deals, but many are finding that buying repossessed properties from banks is a bureaucratic nightmare, the Washington Post reports. Though the housing market cannot stabilize until the unprecedented volume of foreclosures is sold off, banks are sluggish to act and fraught with red tape—and would-be homebuyers are giving up in frustration. More»

Hand-held computers won't be ready for 2010; count's costs rise

(NEWSER) - The 2010 US census was meant to be a high-tech affair, NextGov.com reports, but the Census Bureau today ditched plans to use hand-held computers. The agency will return to plain old paper after "a lack of effective communication" derailed efforts by Harris Corp. to come up with devices to record data from the estimated 1 million who don't mail back their forms. More»

People very much alive struggle to convince Social Security they're alive

(NEWSER) - It's not easy being dead—just ask Laura Todd. The Tennessee woman is one of an estimated 12,000 people a year the government declares dead—often because of a typo in the Social Security database—when they're still very much alive, MSNBC reports. The error can create a financial mess and is just shy of impossible to correct. More»

Funds that feed it to run dry 3 years earlier, in 2033

(NEWSER) - If your outlook on Social Security is a dismal one, the government's latest revelation will only add to your gloom: The trust funds that feed Social Security will be exhausted in 2033, a full three years earlier than the last government estimate. Medicare is still set to die in 2024, thanks to a 2% cut helped that program's fund hold steady, reports the AP . If the funds run dry, payroll taxes will only foot part of the bill: about 75% of Social Security benefits and 87% of Medicare costs. More»

Retire cheaply and luxuriously in a new country

(NEWSER) - Who says you have to spend your golden years in the US? Stretch every retirement dollar you've saved by heading overseas. Here are the seven best reasons, courtesy of US News:

• Live on the cheap: Get the most out of your retirement dollars by shipping out to inexpensive destinations such as Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Panama, and enjoy a comfortable lifestyle for $1,000 per month or less.