Finances and Taxes

Not all US citizens are required to file a federal income tax return (though not required doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t). You are not required to file a tax return if your income is below a certain threshold based on your age and status (there is no set minimum income for filing a return, it all depends on filing status and age).

Federal tax Form 1040, also known as the “U.S. Individual Income Tax Return,” is the standard federal income tax form used by American taxpayers to file their annual income tax returns. It’s the mother of all tax forms as it’s used to report a taxpayer’s tax details to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

An itemized deduction is any certain expense (on tax-privileged items) that a taxpayer is allowed to deduct against their Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) during a tax year. It’s essentially a list of expenses you can use to reduce your taxable income.

The standard deduction is a fixed dollar amount The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows taxpayers to deduct from their taxable income ( adjusted gross income or just AGI) hence reducing the overall tax bill.

Medicare Special Needs Plans (SNPs) are specially coordinated plans for certain qualified individuals (limited to patients with chronic or disabling conditions and who have limited incomes). It’s a unique Medicare Advantage Plan, where the federal government pays approved private companies (meet MOC requirements) to cover special health care or financial needs.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program is a US federal financial assistance program that provides monthly assistance to families that meet the program’s eligibility requirements.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) of 1972 is a federal income supplementation program (funded by federal tax revenues) that provides regular monthly cash assistance to vulnerable people (adults and children with little income and resources and meet specific financial criteria i.e. have little to no income).

SSDI Appeals process can take longer or shorter-all depending on the level of the appeal. Ideally, appeals have to be made within 60 days of receiving the first determination(or benefits termination following a continuing disability review) from the Social Security Administration (SSA) via the denial notice (maximum of 65 days allowing 5 days of mailing time).

SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) is a federal income benefits program. It provides monthly financial assistance to Americans (or their dependents) with significant illness or impairment (that meet the requirements for a disability) and who are unable to work for at least a year (or their condition may result in death within a year).

Cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is the automatic upward adjustment of Social benefits for inflation by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to help counteract the effects of rising prices in the economy. COLA has been in use since 1975. It’s based on the increases in the cost of living, as measured by the changes in the wage earners’ consumer price index (CPI-W) in a specific period.