The question seems to be, where else can I cut back? It is becoming increasingly more difficult to answer. Many Americans surveyed feel that these are the worse economic times they have ever seen. Unfortunately, they also believe that the current situation will last for at least the next year or two. This is depressing and people are looking for ways to cut expenses.

At least 70% of those surveyed said they are even cutting back on such essentials as food and auto transportation. Fortunately, most of them have Medicare to take care of their health needs. Rising gas prices was the killer for 51 percent of those questioned. Those who work, 67 percent, were the ones who cited gas expense as a number one priority. Those who were retired considered rising food prices as the biggest problem faced today. We all have to eat, so this is a major concern to everyone.

On the plus side, the current economic situation has caused people to re-evaluate their spending and realign for the long haul. The majority of people blamed Washington for the current economic ills. Lifting all regulations and allowing everyone free reign brought us to this place in time. Many people became very rich by exploiting the free reign they were given. The rest of us are now paying the price.

People are very aware of their current expenses and carefully watching every dollar spent. Most are taking positive financial action during this year of turmoil. Many are reading more financial information and/or seeking help from financial advisers. Some are actively investigating areas in which they can reduce expenditures. It is difficult to know where to invest your retirement funds these days, as everything seems to be falling apart. Hopefully, we will get past this crisis and our world will return to what we have come to think of as normal.

Everyone is becoming aware of identity theft as a recurring crime that is affecting a large portion of our population. Seniors are particularly sensitive to this new criminal activity and are trying to do everything they can to protect their information. They have discovered a weakness in our system and have been requesting assistance from the government in remedying the situation.

Apparently, all Medicare Cards display the social security number of the recipient. To make matters worse, every person with Medicare coverage has been requested to carry this card on their person. This is leaving seniors vulnerable to minor thefts in which their personal information will be readily available to every petty crook. Instead of having an account number specifically assigned to Medicare, they are being required to expose their social security number to numerous people who could easily copy it. Seniors are feeling very uncomfortable with this situation and have requested that Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services fix this system. The Centers have taken the position that there is no problem as they have not been advised of one case of identity theft that could be traced back to a Medicare card. They say costs of changing the system would run about $500 million dollars and it would take five years to implement.

The Senate Finance Committee is supporting a revamp of the current system to eliminate this problem. It is near impossible to believe that, while we are all purchasing shredders and carefully watching over all forms of our identity, our seniors are being forced to carry their social security numbers on their person and required to present it to numerous employees so that they can obtain the benefits they so desperately need.

In today’s economy, we have more and more people without jobs, resulting in many more uninsured persons. If you no longer have an employer, you probably no longer have a health insurance policy, as the majority of us carry our family health insurance policy through our employer. COBRA is a very expensive alternative, especially for someone who is unemployed. Even if you are still employed, employers often change the offered coverage as they are constantly seeking to reduce their costs. People often see health insurance as something they do have or they do not have. There is a middle road which is becoming more popular today as it seeks to reduce costs while still supplying coverage. The problem is that the coverage is often inadequate to meet the needs of the insured and can leave people in a state of shock, especially if a serious illness occurs in their family.

The new plans that I am referring to are called limited-benefit health plans and they are exactly what the name implies. They supply only limited benefits to their insureds and each plan can vary as to the particular coverage available.

Confusion regarding these plans is causing many complaints to be filed with regulatory agencies and advocacy groups, as some people are finding themselves with extremely high medical bills (some even tens of thousands of dollars) which were completely unanticipated and which they cannot afford to pay. They believed they had health insurance and generally were unaware of the limitations of their coverage. For example, some policies covered a hospital stay up to $300 per day. The average cost in 2006 was actually close to $1,612. It is precisely these caps on individual areas of the policy that are causing the problem. Most people are completely unaware of what is and is not covered by their policy.

The lesson here is that if you are considering a limited-benefit health insurance plan because of the lower rates, it is imperative that you know exactly what your coverage limits are so you can plan accordingly. No one wants to be surprised by sudden expenses that they cannot meet. Coverage on these health insurance policies is very limited and it is important that you are aware of these limitations when you accept a policy such as this.

Layoffs are occurring in record numbers and finding a new position is extremely difficult and can sometimes take more than a year. Employers know they have the upper hand in this economy and are prepared to flex their muscles if they deem it to be necessary. We’ve all seen many mass cutbacks in employees and must realize that at any time this could happen to us. We also must remember that anytime you lose your job, you generally will also lose your family health insurance. Although COBRA is always a temporary option, it is very expensive, therefore, keeping your health insurance is of the utmost importance.

In order to combat the sluggish economy, it is particularly important that we focus fully on our jobs and do not allow ourselves to show any negative actions to our employer.

If you have a seriously ill partner, please let your employer know. By acknowledging the problem, he may make allowances for extra absences, etc. If there are marriage problems, he should also be aware of this.

Do not spend time surfing the web or shopping online. Use the computer for business purposes only.

It is always a good idea to leave the office at least five minutes after your boss. He will get the impression that you are always working late.

During this job depression, be sure not to take very long vacations. After all, they might decide that you are not really necessary if the others are handling your responsibilities satisfactorily.

Be extremely conscious of the fact that you always want to look busy.

If you do get a pink slip, consider negotiating your salary. This may be a much better option than losing most of your income, losing your benefits, and then having to spend possibly the next year looking for a replacement position. If you are turned down for this request, it may really have been your job performance that caused your termination instead of just financial problems.