Cost of living adjustments - Don’t bank on them
Maurie Backman provides a brief history of COLAs (cost of living adjustments) in this piece. Begun in the 1970s, their purpose was to prevent retirees from sliding backwards, as dollars lost value over time due to rising prices. Backman further points out that Social Security benefits alone were never designed to sustain recipients, though a large number of people rely on them to provide the bulk, if not all, of their income. What recipients should really do, according to Backman, “is forget about COLAs and take steps to maintain their buying power independently – because even when COLAs do come through, they’re often relatively meaningless.” Read the full piece here.
This posting is presented for informational purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. Any opinions or interpretations presented are either those of the original author or, in the case of articles authored by the AMAC Foundation, are the opinions of AMAC Foundation staff, originally trained and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA) and certified via the AMAC Foundation. Any links included in the article are valid on the posted date; socialsecurityreport.org cannot guarantee the duration of the links’ validity. NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity. To submit a question, visit our website (https://amacfoundation.org/services/) or email us at ssadvisor@amacfoundation.org. Because we are a non-profit organization, there is no charge for these services.