News Briefs

PLANNING FOR MEDICARE—COUNTDOWN TO 65 SEMINAR

Planning for Medicare-Countdown to 65 is a comprehensive seminar that helps people approaching Medicare eligibility understand their health insurance options outside of employer-sponsored coverage, whether they are planning to retire or continuing to work.

The seminar will be held at the  Rossetti-Cowan Senior Center, 25 Winthrop Ave., Revere, MA 02151 on Wednesday, April 13th at 6:00 PM

What will Planning for Medicare—Countdown to 65 cover?

Planning for Medicare is a presentation and discussion led by a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts representative. The topics will include:

• An explanation of Medicare Parts A and B
• Medicare enrollment timeline
• Medigap plans that help supplement Medicare coverage
• Medicare Advantage plans, such as HMOs and PPOs
• Medicare Part D prescription drug plans
• Plans and programs available to early retirees, such as COBRA Seminar to be held

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

WEBSTER FIRST TO HOLD HOME BUYER’S SEMINARS

Webster First will be hosting two free Home Buyer’s Seminars in the month of April. The Home Buyer’s Seminars, which will be held at the Saugus Main Street branch and the Winthrop branch, will feature speakers who are experts in both mortgages and credit. These speakers will be present at both seminars to provide new home buyers with helpful and valuable information as well as advice about the home buying process.

The Saugus Main Street branch, located at 509 Main Street in Saugus, will hold this free seminar on Tuesday, April 19th from 6:00pm-7:30pm. The seminar at the Winthrop branch, located at 15 Woodside Avenue in Winthrop, will be held on Tuesday, April 26th from 6:00pm-7:30pm.

Reservations are required to attend, and space is limited. Reserve your spot today at www.websterfirst.com/homebuyer.

About Webster First:

Webster First Federal Credit Union serves the financial needs of Essex, Middlesex, Suffolk, and Worcester Counties. Webster First is one of the largest credit unions in Massachusetts with over $800MM in assets and serving over 60,000 members.

SOCIAL SECURITY LAUNCHES THIRD NATIONAL MY SOCIAL SECURITY WEEK

Carolyn W. Colvin, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, welcomes everyone to celebrate the third National my Social Security Week  through 13, 2016. Social Security will host numerous events and activities across the country to raise awareness about the benefits of establishing a my Social Security account. This secure, personalized account can be created at www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount.

“For more than 80 years, Social Security has been there through life’s journey. We are helping to secure today and tomorrow with information, tools and resources to meet our customers’ changing needs,” said Acting Commissioner Colvin. “Join the more than 23 million people who have already created a my Social Security account, a secure, convenient option for people to do business with Social Security anywhere and anytime.”

With a my Social Security account, people can:

• Keep track of their earnings and verify them every year with their Social Security Statement;
• Get an estimate of their future benefits, if they are still working;
• Get a verification letter with proof of their benefits, if they currently receive them;
• Manage their benefits;
• Change their address;
• Start or change direct deposit;
• Get a replacement Medicare card; and
• Get a replacement SSA-1099 or SSA-1042S for tax season.

In some states, people can apply for a replacement Social Security card online using their my Social Security account. This service is currently available in the District of Columbia, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico, Washington, and Wisconsin.  It is an easy and secure way to apply for a replacement card online.

During my Social Security Week, the agency will hold “Check Your Statement Day” on April 7. It is important that people check their Social Security Statement every year to learn about future Social Security benefits and to verify annual earnings. Personalized Statements help people plan for their financial future. People can access their information when it’s convenient for them by creating a my Social Security account.

Social Security is also helping the U.S. Department of Treasury educate people about the value of saving for retirement. Millions of people do not have access to a retirement savings plan at work or find it difficult to start saving. The myRA® is a retirement savings account developed by Treasury that removes common savings barriers and can help people start to save. Learn more at www.myRA.gov.

AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH

The Seacoast Academy students kicked off April’s Autism Awareness Month with this fine color cup display along Bennington Street in front of the Beachmont School. April is the official month to recognize and learn about Autism.

NORTH SHORE PHILHARMONIC

Two contrasting versions of the classical music spectrum will be featured when Music Director Robert Lehmann conducts Mozart’s intimate and emotional Symphony No. 40 and Mahler’s grand and dramatic Symphony No. 1 in the North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra’s Spring concert Sunday, April 10, at Swampscott High School.

Concert time is 3 p.m.

Nearly 100 musicians will be on stage for Mahler’s spectacular work, nicknamed The Titan, as the Orchestra concludes its 68^th season.

Mahler’s symphony, which lasts all of a full hour, depicts the composer’s love of nature in the hypnotic opening movement, evoking, as he wrote to a conductor, “sounds of nature, not music!” through the use of harmonics in the strings, offstage trumpets, and the chirping sound of a cuckoo bird played by the woodwinds. While the second and third movements are more measured and songlike, the final movement bursts “like lightening from a black cloud” and is full of with heroic and triumphant reports from the horns, with the players standing for emphasis.

The Orchestra, founded by the late Revere resident Robert Marra Sr., is supported in part by a grants from the Swampscott Cultural Council in partnership with the Massachusetts Cultural Council.