COLA
COLA Expectations Must be Tempered for 2024
Trevor Jennewine reviews the large 8.7% cost of living adjustment (COLA) granted to Social Security beneficiaries in January 2023. It was the result of very high inflation not seen in several decades. But inflation has slowed greatly, which will translate…
What is the latest estimate on 2024 COLA
The Department of Labor released The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) numbers for May 2023, with inflation falling to 4%; this was the smallest 12-month increase since the period ending March 2021. So, what will this mean…
How to fix Social Security before benefits are cut
Many Americans think since Congress resolved the debt limit crisis by suspending it until 2025, all is well with the federal funding of government programs. That is not the case. For the past thirteen years, the Social Security program has…
Lower inflation means lower COLA
2023 saw one of the highest Cost-of-living-adjustments increases since 1981. But will Social Security beneficiaries receive another significant increase in 2024? Although it is too early to calculate the 2024 COLA amount, Keith Speights suggests that retirees are better off…
Claiming Social Security Benefits–What Time is the Right Time?
That’s one of those questions that typically gets a response of, “Well, it depends.” As frustrating as that may be, it does encapsulate the point that the answer does in fact depend on some significant variables. Deciding when to claim…
Inflation and Retirement Planning–Some Suggestions
Virtually every consumer is painfully aware of the inflationary cycle our economy is enduring, and not everyone is buying the thought that it’s a temporary–or transitory, to use a vernacular term–phenomenon. Retirees and those planning for their retirement years are…
Showcasing the Deficiency of the Current COLA Process
Social Security’s annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) process supposedly measures the cost increases across the spectrum of spending categories Americans face. It’s based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), and it’s been that way…
Social Security Facts and Factoids
Forbes contributor Eli Amdur, in a post on forbes.com, provides several interesting trivia about Social Security, along with some serious points on areas where governmental leadership is needed to correct flaws in the program’s structure. Among the points he raises…
Dealing With Social Security’s Inherent Inability to Ensure Retirement
The more you look at Social Security, and the more you ponder its place in your retirement planning strategy, the more you become aware of the program’s basic premise. This premise, in simple terms, is to keep seniors from falling…
Will the 2024 COLA be lower than three percent?
Although the public announcement of the 2024 Social Security cost-of-living-adjustment is six months away, financial experts are predicting a significantly lower COLA increase for 2024. It appears that the Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA) for 2024 will be…