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Social Security COLA and the Inflation “Catch Up” Dilemma
The much anticipated 2023 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security beneficiaries has now started to hit seniors’ financial books. That’s a good thing, certainly, given the ravages of inflation over the past two years and the systemic loss of purchasing power inflicted on older Americans. But how well does the 2023 adjustment compensate for lost ground?
Mary Johnson, Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League, tackles this question with an analysis of the COLA vs. CPI numbers for the 2020-2022 period, concluding that the answer depends on how quickly escalating prices are harnessed this year. Anybody’s guess at this point, and another compounding factor is how many seniors will be shoved across the “frozen” income limits for federal income tax on Social Security benefits.
Read Ms. Johnson’s GoBankingRates.com post here…