Thanks to a 3.6 percent Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), seniors will receive a benefits boost next year — but don’t celebrate just yet. According to a report by Yahoo! Finance, it will likely still feel like a loss for most seniors because a flawed formula means the COLA will still trail inflation.
The problem is that the COLA formula is based on an index that doesn’t accurately capture the costs seniors face. Social Security COLAs are based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). The CPI-W measures how workers spend, not retirees, who tend to spend most of their money on healthcare, which has outpaced inflation in recent years. Because the current COLA formula doesn’t account for that, experts say Social Security benefits have lost 13.7 percent of their buying power over the past 10 years.
Council of Seniors is Here to Help Older Americans
All of us here at the Council of Seniors want to improve retirees’ financial futures and ensure they receive their full Social Security benefits. We are working with members of Congress to introduce the “Social Security Restitution Act.” It would provide an estimated $970 one-time payment to every retired worker receiving Social Security benefits, to help offset years of inadequate cost-of-living adjustments.
According to the Council of Seniors’ Executive Director Barbara Godwin, “For years, seniors have watched their Social Security checks fail to stretch as far as they should, while the cost of everyday essentials keeps climbing. This legislation is a straightforward, targeted way to help make up for COLAs that didn’t reflect what retired Americans were actually paying to get by.”
Please take a moment and sign our petition today to show your support.