COLA
Early Estimate of 2025 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)
While it is still way too early in the year to say with certainty what next year’s COLA increase will be, one senior’s group is suggesting that continued high inflation will likely mean another 3% (or so) increase to everyone’s…
Ask Rusty – Older Husband and Working Wife Seek Guidance
Dear Rusty: I am 74 years old, retired and receiving Social Security. My wife will be 65 in January of 2025. Our hope was to start paying off some credit card expense by her receiving SS when she turns 65,…
Changing how COLA is calculated
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has introduced the bill “Under the Boosting Benefits and COLAs for Seniors Act (S. 3974), which would change the calculation of the yearly Social Security cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) by switching from the Consumer Price Index Urban Wage…
The newest COLA estimate
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the March 2024 Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) increased 3.5 percent over the last 12 months. Based on this announcement, the Senior Citizens League has estimated the cost-of-living…
New bill endorses CPI-E as a means to avoid steady loss of seniors’ purchasing power
At last week’s Aging Committee hearing on preserving and protecting Social Security, Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) summarized the newly-introduced Boosting Benefits and COLAs for Seniors Act as intending to “help seniors contend with rising costs by changing the way that Social…
Speculation about COLA for 2025
Admittedly, it’s way too early to say with certainty what next year’s Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Social Security will be. COLA is, after all, based on inflation as measured in the 3rd quarter (July – September) of each…
The latest 2025 COLA estimates
The latest 2025 Social Security COLA predictions are out, and it seems to be on track to be less than this year’s 3.2 percent; however, the official announcement is not until mid-October. Analysis by the Senior Citizens League estimates the…
Exploring a Myth: Social Security’s COLA is Guaranteed
Let’s start with some background…each year’s cost of living adjustment (COLA) results from comparing the third quarter average Consumer Price Index each year to the same average from the preceding year. The result of dividing the current year’s average by…
How is the Buying Power of your Social Security benefit?
Social Security’s annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) is intended to help recipients keep pace with inflation – but does it? The historic 8.7% increase in 2023 and the more moderate 3.2% COLA increase for 2024, were, without question, welcome…
The One Social Security Metric that Doesn’t Change
Most Social Security “metrics” (the various factors which affect your monthly benefit amount and the SS payroll taxes you pay) change each year to account for inflation and changes to the national Average Wage Index (AWI). Inflation, obviously, has an…