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Administration officials are telling news outlets that the budget the president unveils next week will include proposals he made last year during negotiations with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. Those include changes that could reduce increases in Social Security and Medicare spending.

When it comes to collecting Social Security benefits, there is no magic age. Today's boomers can begin collecting full benefits at 66, tap in early at 62 or delay benefits until 70. Mary Beth Franklin of Investment °µºÚ±¬ÁÏ says the importance of making a smart decision on timing "can't be underestimated."

Every month, the government sends out about 5 million paper checks to Americans who receive federal benefits. As of March 1, however, the Treasury Department is planning to make those checks a thing of the past. It's encouraging holdouts to move to direct deposit or a debit card.

As the financial crisis wanes, economists are shifting their attention toward a more subtle, possibly more upsetting crisis in the United States.

Republicans are insisting on more austere entitlement programs as leaders negotiate a deal to keep the nation from going over the "fiscal cliff" in the new year. But many Democrats are wary of including any far-reaching and long-lasting entitlement reforms in a hastily thrown-together deal.

Despite his re-election and bolstered Democratic numbers in Congress, President Obama has far from a free hand to make a comprehensive deal with House Speaker John Boehner that would include cuts to entitlement programs. Strong resistance to that notion is coming from the political left — and with a warning.

The Republican plan to avert the "fiscal cliff" includes a proposal that would change the way inflation is calculated. The change could result in savings of billions, but its getting pushback from Democrats and groups like AARP.

President Obama demonstrated that he intends to cut Republican challenger Mitt Romney no slack for his "47 percent" comment. He told AARP members that "Medicare and Social Security are not handouts." Meanwhile, Rep. Paul Ryan said critics of the Republican ticket's proposals are misleading seniors.

Families often pull together to help finance a college education, with parents and grandparents chipping in or co-signing loans. But when a federal student loan isn't paid back, the government withholds money from Social Security recipients.

The case focused on a set of Florida twins who were conceived using in vitro fertilization. Their father had frozen his sperm before he died of cancer. His wife applied for Social Security benefits for the twins, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state law bars inheritance for children conceived posthumously.