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Will Kamala Harris address Social Security’s COLA flaw?
Maurie Backman eludes to the big cuts coming to Social Security checks in about a decade absent reform. But of more immediate concern is how Social Security cost of living adjustments (COLAs) are based on only 3rd quarter changes in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). The problem is the CPI-W doesn’t do a great job of capturing the costs of Social Security recipients specifically. Another metric called the CPI-E has been talked about for some time, and Backman is optimistic Harris might take on the issue. Full story here.
As an example of the leading thoughts on reforming Social Security, the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC, Inc.) believes Social Security must be preserved and modernized. This can be achieved without tax increases by slight modifications to cost of living adjustments and payments to high income beneficiaries plus gradually increasing the full (but not early) retirement age. AMAC Action, AMAC’s advocacy arm, supports an increase in the threshold where benefits are taxed and then indexing for inflation, and calls for eliminating the reduction in people’s benefits for those choosing to work before full retirement age. AMAC is resolute in its mission that Social Security be preserved for current and successive generations and has gotten the attention of lawmakers in D.C., meeting with many congressional offices and staff over the past decade.