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Social Security statement;
future may be in your hands
S. A p
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___________________________________________________________
C o M Y tlS IO N F R OF S O C IA L S EC URITY
Beginning October 1, Social Security Administration (SSA) will launch the
largest customized mailing ever undertaken by a Federal agency when it sends
an annual Social Security Statement to 125 million workers. The 4-page
statement is designed to help workers with financial planning by providing
estimates o f their retirement, disability and survivors' benefits. The statement
will also provide workers an easy way to determine whether their earnings are
accurately posted on their Social Security records. This is an important feature
because Social Security benefits are based on an individual’s career wage
record.
The annual Social Security Statement is the result o f efforts by Senator Daniel
Patrick Moynihan to establish in law the requirement that all Americans receive
an annual statement ofpotential Social Security benefits. By law, SSA will send
the annual statement to workers who are ages 25 and older and not receiving
Social Security benefits. The mailing o f the statements will be staggered
throughout the year, with approximately 500,000 statements delivered each
day. You can expect to receive your statement each year about three months
before your birth month. For example, if your birthday falls in February, you
can expect to receive your Social Security Statement in November. If you’re
married, your spouse will receive a statement based on his/her birth month.
Social Security was designed to be a foundation o f financial protection to be
supplemented by pensions and savings. The four- page social Security
Statement will give you an estimate o f your monthly Social Security benefits
when you retire which will help you gauge how much savings you will need
to live comfortably.
Social Security is particularly important to African Americans. Without Social
Security, the number o f elderly African American, living in poverty, would
increase from 24 percent to 62 percent. Social Security is the only source of
retirement income for 33 percent o f elderly African American. The Social
Security system is progressive in that it returns a greater percentage of pre­
retirement earning to a lower-wage person than to a higher-wage person.
African American tend to have lower earning and less pension coverage than
Whites, therefore, African American who receive any type o f Social Security
benefits are more likely to receive a higher percentage o f their pre- retirement
earnings.
What many American do not know is that Social Security is more than just a
retirement program, it is A merican’s family protection plan. One out o f every
three Social Security beneficiaries is a disabled worker, a disabled worker’s
family member, or a survivor o f a worker who has died. It can be a frightening
statistic, but almost three in 10 o f today’s 20 year-old will become disabled
before reaching age 67 and six o f us will likely die before reaching age 67. Social
Security provides disability coverage for you and your family equivalent to
about a $300,000 disability policy and survivors protection equivalent to more
than a 300,000 life insurance policy. The Social Security Statement gives an
estimate o f the monthly Social Security benefits you and your family could
expect to receive should you become disabled or die.
Another important feature o f the Social Security Statement is that it gives you
an easy way to determine whether the earnings sent to SSA by your employer
have been accurately recorded. The amount o f your future benefits payment
will be based on your Social Security earning records. The statement will tell
you how to go about correcting any inaccuracies that might appear in your
posted earnings.
When you receive your Social Security Statement, I urge you to take the time
to read it and use the information contained in it to up date or begin your long-
range financial planning. The social Security Statement is a good resource tool
for all Americans to prepare for the future in your hand: a planning tool that
can be used to ensure financial stability for you and your family.
The Social Security program has changed in the past to meet the demands of
the times and must do again. We are working to resolve long-range financial
issues to make sure Social Security will provide a foundation o f protection for
future generations as it has done in the past. (For more information about social
Security benefits, call or visit your local Social Security office, call Social
Security’s toll-free number, 1 -800-1213, or visit Social Security’s web site at
www.ssa.gov.)
November 24, 1999
Portland redesigns and eases access to services in website
CONTRIBUTED STORY________________________ _______ _______________
for T he
P ortland O bserver
It’s 10:00’clock, the neighbor’s stereo is keeping
you up, and want to know who to call at the city to
deal with the noise-right now. Where do you turn?
The world wide web, where the city o f Portland is
making tracks toward round-the-clock access to
City information and services with its updated
home page at www.ciportland.or.us
“If you can’t come down to the city, we can come
to you through the world wide web,” said Mayor
Vera Katz. With today’s busier lifestyle, finding
new and better ways to connect citizen with their
government helps us increase involvement and
create better programs and services. And with
today’s growing number o f public facilities,
especially our libraries, providing web access,
even citizens without Home computers can still
access information easily.”
The new site has up-to-date information on all
majorcity services and functions, and allows people
to search for a service even if they don’t know the
correct name or department. An updated search
engine provides accurate and fast links to listings
o f information on everything from drinking water to
plumbing permits, and code citations to classes in
your neighborhood. If the information you need
isn’t posted on the web, a directory o f services
makes it easy to get the phone number that will lead
you to your answer.
The new home page puts City issues that matter to
web visitors just a finger click away. For openers,
the “ city Issues" section includes the City’s
response to the Endangered Species and upcoming
Year 2000 planning. The “City News” section
highlights events, public involvement opportunities,
and news coming up or within the last 30 days. The
page also links to web sites outside the City which
contain information that Portland residents may
want to know about but which are not City-related
services such as libraries, school and Tri-Met.
Portland’s unique form of government is featured
with photos o f elected officials and the portfolios
o f bureaus they are responsible for.
Gary Blackmer, the city Auditor, recently put the
entire City Code Online. "I am excited about the
opportunity to bring citizens closer to government
via the Web. City Bureaus have been steadily
increasing the amount o f information available we
want citizens to start using the C ity’s site as a
regular resource,’’Blackmer said.
The new City home page invites citizen comment
and feedback. The City ’ s home pages are a work in
progress and will continue to develop Send
feedback via the su rv e y form at h ttp ://
www.ci.portland.or.us/survey On a lighter note, if
you want to see how previous generations saw
Portlandia, also known as lady commerce, the
figure on the city Seal, from City Archives. She
looked like a flapper girl in the 1920s, and an
poeratic heroine in other periods before being
standardized on the present image in 1964.
North Portland benefits MCI changes billing
from PGE program
CONTRIBUTED STORN
tor
T he P ortland O bserver
CONTRIBUTED STORY
tor T he
P ortland O bserver
Nonprofit organizations in North Portlandjust received a little help from friends
at Portland General Electric (PGE). PGE employees obtained financial donations
for local organizations through PGE ’ S Employee Volunteer Grant program- a
program designed to align a portion o f PGE’s charitable giving with the
volunteer interests o f its employees.
Grants awarded in North Portland include: $250 donation by Reginald Harris
to Police Activity League/Portland Youth Football Team $500 donated by
Jenean Dunn to Portland Metropolitan Youth Mass Mass Choir $500 donated
by Steve Cox to Project Linkage. $500 donation by Mark Fryburg to WLS Inc.
Center for Airway science.
These donations are part o f a total o f $ 18,950 in grants awarded to non profit
organizations and in grants awarded to nonprofit organizations and schools
during the third quarter o f 1999 through PGE’s Employee Volunteer Grant
program. A total o f 46 grants were awarded, ranging from $100 to $500,
benefiting nonprofit organizations where PGE employees volunteer.
Attorney General Hardy Myers today
announced that MCI WORLDCOM
Communications, Inc. (MCI) would
change certain billing practices and
pay $1.32 million to Oregon and 23
other states as part o f a multi-state
settlement. Oregon’s shareof$55,000
will be used to fund future consumer
protection and education activities.
An A ssu ra n c e o f V o lu n ta ry
compliance, filed today in Marion
County Circuit Court, addresses the
company’s alleged misleading billing
practices concerning M CI’s self-
described charge called a “National
Access Fee.”
“It’s bad enough that Oregonians
currently spend hours trying to sort
out possible unauthorized charges
on th e ir tele p h o n e b ills from
‘slamming’ and cramming’ without
having to question every line item for
its a u th e n tic ity ,” M yers said.
“Misleading information concerning
a billing understates,” the real costs
o f long distance services and does
not allow consumers to compare
accurately the rate o f long distance
carriers,”
Joint investigations by several states ’
A tto rn e y s G eneral found th at
beginning in January 1998, MCI billed
its customers for a "National Access
Fee,” which in many states was placed
in the “Taxes and customs that the
fee was a tax or other government
mandated charge and the FCC did not
require MCI to collect this charge
from consumers.
Advertise Your Home In
(Elie ÎJnrtlanù (Pbseruer
Call (503) 288-0033
Honoring
Excellence-
education1'1
Jesse James McCoun
Bom October 16th 1981
G.P.A. is3.89
Activities include ASB president, captain o f the
varsity football team
Hobbies include Marantha Church Youth Group & council, Jefferson High Student
Government, varsity football, weight lifting, fishing, camping, boxing, golf,
counseling and mentoring youths and fellow peers.
Groups Jesse participates in are the Multnomah County Youth Advisory Board,
national honor society, congressional youth leadership council ( NYLC alumni
representative program), PSU’s ETS/Project plus program, Portland Central Young
Life Christian Ministries, and Portland Parks and Recreation (Operation Eagle
Program).
He lives with his father.
His goals are to attend West Point Academy in New York. While there he w ill be
majonng in Political Science, and perhaps go Io law school. After graduating from
college he plans to run for office and have a career as a public servant. " This
community gave to me, so I'm going to give back. This community helped build
me, so I'm going to help build it."
Safeco Insurance
Safeco Insurance and the Matthew Bamett Insurance Agency recognize the
positive achievements of Jefferson students and wish them, their parents, and
the Jefferson High staff the very best.
Matthew K. Barnett
Insurance Agency
Life/Auto/Fire/Business
3332 N. Lombard SuiteC. Portland. OR 97217
(503) 285-2546Fax (503) 285-1388
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