COLA
Surprise! 2025 COLA Won’t Offset True Inflation
Inflation is an insidious thing – inexorably creeping prices for most everything we buy. And while there is often a lot of hoopla about how Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) are designed to help seniors keep up with inflation, the…
Early Prediction of 2025 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)
It’s way too early to say with any degree of certainty what next year’s COLA will be, but it’s still interesting to take a look at what might be. Inflation, of course, is the driver of any COLA increase to…
Warning: Retirees Are Likely to Continue Losing Ground to Inflation
You’ve probably seen the reports stating that seniors have lost considerable ground to inflation since 2000. If you’re a retiree living on Social Security benefits, you’re well aware of the cost increases that have outstripped your income for some time,…
Will Medicare Part B premiums wipe out COLA
After the government released the inflation rate for April, Social Security analysts began to estimate the cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) for 2025. As you may know, the Social Security Administration bases its COLA each year on average annual increases in CPI-W from…
The two problems with COLA
The Social Security Administration calculates the COLA by comparing the average of the CPI-W for July, August, and September of the previous year with the average for the same three-month period in the current year. The percentage change is the…
Forget About Next Year’s COLA…At Least, Until October
As happens in most years, media projections for next year’s Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) have been surfacing over the past few months. Many folks are aware, of course, that the projections are merely guesses during the early months of…
New COLA calculation bill in Congress
Erin Bendig of Kiplinger explains a new bill in Congress that could result in a change to Social Security cost of living adjustments (COLAs) that could benefit retirees. The Boosting Benefits and COLAs for Seniors Act, proposed by Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA),…
Social Security & Inflation: Keeping Up or Losing Ground?
Tami Luhby of CNN writes here that Social Security is not keeping up with inflation and that many seniors may exact their ire over the issue at President Joe Biden. Two recent cost of living increases (5.9% in 2021 and…
CPI-E Advanced in New Congressional Bill
U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) recently introduced legislation that could increase the monthly benefits paid to seniors by requiring the Social Security Administration to use a different inflation-calculation formula. His bill, titled the “Boosting Benefits and COLAs for Seniors Act,” calls…
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…