The Senior Citizens League estimates that this year's Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA) will be 2.8%, which would be the highest since 2012.
12 comments:
Anonymous
said...
The COLA will be released next Thursday (October 11) and will probably be about 2.8% as the article says. However, I don't think Florence will have nearly the impact of Harvey, since Harvey was earlier in the year and affected gasoline prices nationally due to its location. I also don't think Medicare B will take much out of the COLA (unlike last year) - the Medicare website says that people who have been paying lower premiums due to past low COLAs are paying an average of $130, which is not that much lower than the expected standard rate for 2019 ($135.50 according to the article) - but they might be right about other health plans. The other interesting thing in the article is the claim that Social Security benefits have lost 34% to inflation since 2000 (actually, there was not a 34% drop in buying power - the COLA yielded 34% less than inflation they experienced, which is a drop of 1 - 1/1.34 = 25% in buying power) - so the COLA would have had to been over 1.6% per year higher on average to keep up.
I will just say this, "The formulas they use do not actually keep up with inflation that people feel", they just keep up with inflation the way that they want to calculate it. There are still talks of a 21% cut which would push people with roofs under their head to homelessness. The government needs to step up and increase benefits across the board and do a better job with calculating "inflation"!
Social Security was never designed nor intended to be the sole source of income in retirement. You can be a grasshopper or you can be an ant. The choice is yours, you have a right to fail.
Dear 5:59 PM, Are you serious. You can get another job, ask for a raise, try for a promotion, get a part time job (I worked 7 days a week for at least 5 years straight at one point). You can get a guaranteed student loan and go to college. You HAVE options; people on Social Security Disability DO NOT. I started collecting my Social Security check at age 37 and am now in my 50's. I worked hard, and went to school nights, and worked in IT, and made very good money and now I have nothing...who are "abled" persons to complain? It is more than a fixed income, it is a "fixed life" with no where to go!
Employees on average get raises greater than the change in CPI (and thus greater than the Social Security COLA). From the latest Trustees Report:
The real increase in the average covered wage has traditionally been expressed in the form of a real-wage differential — the annual percentage change in the average covered wage minus the annual percentage change in the CPI. For the period from 1966 to 2007, covering the last five complete economic cycles, the real-wage differential averaged 0.88 percentage point, the result of averages of 1.43, 0.04, 0.48, 1.55, and 0.58 percentage points over the economic cycles 1966-73, 1973-79, 1979-89, 1989-2000, and 2000‑07, respectively.
9:29: If you believe that, would YOU hire that person with a disability and/or provide them with the accommodations to be able to do the job? Three times I've hired clients who I believed had the education and abilities to work part-time, but I will never do it again--there is a reason that people are on disability, and an employer has to have certain expectations met.
Even with "reasonable accommodations," I am sure I Could not perform SGA to any sustained period of time. There are just too many things that cause significant pain. I tried writing a brief for Federal Court. It took me 90 days to write and was probably what a normal person could have thrown together in a day. I could envision what I was trying to write, but was just not capable of executing it. Way too much back, knee, shoulder, and hand pain... Plus eye issues, headaches, migraines, etc. It has NOTHING to do with desire or willingness. All the willpower in the world won't allow you to stop a train! You have to be realistic about what your actual capabilities are. I just wish SSA was.
12 comments:
The COLA will be released next Thursday (October 11) and will probably be about 2.8% as the article says. However, I don't think Florence will have nearly the impact of Harvey, since Harvey was earlier in the year and affected gasoline prices nationally due to its location. I also don't think Medicare B will take much out of the COLA (unlike last year) - the Medicare website says that people who have been paying lower premiums due to past low COLAs are paying an average of $130, which is not that much lower than the expected standard rate for 2019 ($135.50 according to the article) - but they might be right about other health plans. The other interesting thing in the article is the claim that Social Security benefits have lost 34% to inflation since 2000 (actually, there was not a 34% drop in buying power - the COLA yielded 34% less than inflation they experienced, which is a drop of 1 - 1/1.34 = 25% in buying power) - so the COLA would have had to been over 1.6% per year higher on average to keep up.
I will just say this, "The formulas they use do not actually keep up with inflation that people feel", they just keep up with inflation the way that they want to calculate it.
There are still talks of a 21% cut which would push people with roofs under their head to homelessness. The government needs to step up and increase benefits across the board and do a better job with calculating "inflation"!
Social Security was never designed nor intended to be the sole source of income in retirement. You can be a grasshopper or you can be an ant. The choice is yours, you have a right to fail.
We cannot call ourselves a civilized society if we refuse to protect the weakest among us. Unknown author.
I wish I (as an employee) could get a similar raise. Remember this next time you think about who actually has a "fixed" income.
Dear 5:59 PM,
Are you serious. You can get another job, ask for a raise, try for a promotion, get a part time job (I worked 7 days a week for at least 5 years straight at one point). You can get a guaranteed student loan and go to college. You HAVE options; people on Social Security Disability DO NOT. I started collecting my Social Security check at age 37 and am now in my 50's. I worked hard, and went to school nights, and worked in IT, and made very good money and now I have nothing...who are "abled" persons to complain? It is more than a fixed income, it is a "fixed life" with no where to go!
Employees on average get raises greater than the change in CPI (and thus greater than the Social Security COLA). From the latest Trustees Report:
The real increase in the average covered wage has traditionally been expressed in the form of a real-wage differential — the annual percentage change in the average covered wage minus the annual percentage change in the CPI. For the period from 1966 to 2007, covering the last five complete economic cycles, the real-wage differential averaged 0.88 percentage point, the result of averages of 1.43, 0.04, 0.48, 1.55, and 0.58 percentage points over the economic cycles 1966-73, 1973-79, 1979-89, 1989-2000, and 2000‑07, respectively.
https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2018/V_B_econ.html
(under "4. Assumed Real-Wage Differential")
Dear 10:25, you do realize you can do all the same things and make more money. There is a job out there for anyone that is willing to work.
9:29: If you believe that, would YOU hire that person with a disability and/or provide them with the accommodations to be able to do the job? Three times I've hired clients who I believed had the education and abilities to work part-time, but I will never do it again--there is a reason that people are on disability, and an employer has to have certain expectations met.
Our office is 75% disabled. The problem isn't the disabled, it is the employers.
Even with "reasonable accommodations," I am sure I Could not perform SGA to any sustained period of time. There are just too many things that cause significant pain. I tried writing a brief for Federal Court. It took me 90 days to write and was probably what a normal person could have thrown together in a day. I could envision what I was trying to write, but was just not capable of executing it. Way too much back, knee, shoulder, and hand pain... Plus eye issues, headaches, migraines, etc. It has NOTHING to do with desire or willingness. All the willpower in the world won't allow you to stop a train! You have to be realistic about what your actual capabilities are. I just wish SSA was.
Sounds like you need better medical treatment.
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