The Weather’s Relationship to Social Security and COLAs
About the last thing you would think to have anything to do with what the cost of living adjustment might be for Social Security recipients come the fall would be the weather. But as Sean Williams of The Motley Fool notes, watch the skies. Last year’s two major hurricanes created a spike in energy prices that probably contributed to an extra 0.5% of COLA in the current year. Williams notes one should monitor the severity of this year’s hurricane season over the next two months. While strong crude prices already suggest a decent COLA increase, another hurricane season that disrupts production and refining could lead to an even more robust COLA. Read more…