inflation
Predicting 2026 COLA
In this Motley Fool article, the author indicates that the most likely case is that the 2026 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) will be about 2.7%. That would yield only about $54 in additional monthly benefits for the average Social…
Why COLA estimates are often wrong
You may have seen the headlines on the latest estimates for the 2026 cost-of-living adjustments (COLA); however, do you know how Social Security calculates it? COLAs are based on increases in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and…
Tariffs, Inflation, and Social Security’s COLAs: An Entanglement with Potential Impact on Seniors
While the tariff wars unfold on the world stage, economists are busy developing forecasts of the relationship between import/export fees and inflation, with opinions leaning toward likely increases in consumer prices. And consumer prices–the money we all spend on goods…
Are you guilty of napkin math?
Are you guilty of “napkin math” when deciding when to take Social Security? I think we all are, but how reliable is the math? Do you have all the necessary information to make an informed decision? Dana Anspac explains how…
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…
Survey Says: 79% of Americans Agree that a Retirement is At Hand
The National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) recently released the results of a survey of working age Americans conducted late last year, revealing that 79% of the more than 1200 respondents aged 25 and older agree with the Chair of…
Is Social Security COLA keeping up with inflation
The purpose of Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is to ensure that the purchasing power of Social Security benefits keeps up with inflation. But does it? According to Brandon Selfors, the CEO of life settlement and Medicare insurance company Bridge,…
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…
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…
Americans are rethinking retirement
The recent survey by Northwestern Mutual found many Americans are rethinking how much they should budget for retirement. With the current level of economic inflation, Americans are spending more on everything causing retirement savings to dip 11 percent from last…