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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 and services–are, naturally, the root of inflation statistics, and who knows that better than seniors on fixed incomes attempting to deal with a constantly eroding loss of buying power?
So, what’s likely to happen as the negotiations play out? Experts are weighing in, and the prevailing belief seems to be that the costs will be passed along to consumers, logically resulting in an increase in the inflation rate. This, of course, would drive the Social Security COLA calculation upward, providing a benefit boost in January for those drawing benefits. That’s the potential “good news,” but the downside would be a corresponding upswing in the costs of many items that all consumers pay for.
It’s a complex issue for sure, and The Motley Fool’s Bram Berkowitz has some thoughts on the subject. Check out his article on their website here…