[NFBF-L] Social Security Cost of Living Increase by 1.3%, per AARP

Sat Oct 17 15:34:16 UTC 2020

I got this e-mail from AARP and am pasting the article below.  Hope this
provides some useful information.

Sherri

Small boost to monthly benefits starting in January due to low inflation

by John Waggoner,  <https://www.aarp.org/> AARP, October 13, 2020 |
Comments: 137

ZUMA PRESS, INC. / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

<https://www.aarp.org/espanol/jubilacion/seguro-social/info-2020/ajuste-cola
-2021.html?intcmp=AE-RET-TOSPA-TOGL-ES> En español | The Social Security
Administration (SSA) announced on Oct. 13 that its annual cost-of-living
adjustment (COLA) will be 1.3 percent, an average boost to retirement
benefits of about $20 per month for individuals starting in January.

The modest gain for monthly benefits is the latest in a decade of meager
COLA increases. Social Security COLAs have averaged a 1.65 percent increase
annually the past decade, with no increase at all to benefits in 2016. The
increase that went into effect in January 2020 was 1.6 percent.

“Today’s announcement of a 1.3 percent COLA increase — while modest — is
needed to help Social Security beneficiaries and their families try to keep
up with rising costs,” says AARP Chief Executive Officer Jo Ann Jenkins.
"The guaranteed benefits provided by Social Security and the COLA increase
are more crucial than ever as millions of Americans continue to face the
one-two punch of the coronavirus’s health and economic consequences. In
fact, thanks to recently enacted changes supported by AARP to lower the
Medicare premium for next year, more seniors will at least see a small
monthly COLA."

Why so low?

COLAs have been low because inflation has been tame. The annual COLA is
based on the change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and
Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the third quarter of the previous year to the
third quarter of the current year. The CPI-W represents the prices paid by
workers for a basket of goods and services. It is not based on a market
basket that reflects what retirees purchase — the CPI-E — which represents a
market basket that better reflects retiree spending, such as higher costs
for health care.

This year's COLA calculation looks at the average CPI-W index numbers for
July, August and September of 2019 and compares them with the numbers for
the same three-month span in 2020. The percentage change between the two
quarterly averages is the COLA for the following year starting in January.
If there's no change, or if there's a decline in the CPI-W, there's no
increase in Social Security benefits.

Since Congress initiated
<https://www.aarp.org/retirement/social-security/info-2020/colas-history.htm
l> automatic annual COLAs in 1975, there have been three years in which
benefits didn't increase at all: 2010, 2011 and 2016. The single biggest
increase, 14.3 percent, went into effect in January 1981.

Social Security is
<https://www.aarp.org/retirement/social-security/questions-answers/how-is-so
cial-security-funded/> funded by a payroll tax of 12.4 percent on eligible
wages — employees pay 6.2 percent and employers pay the other 6.2 percent
(with self-employed workers paying the entire 12.4 percent). Next year, the
maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax will increase
to $142,800 from $137,700. The money paid in by today's workers goes to
cover current benefits, with any excess going into the Social Security trust
fund.

Because of the growing number of Social Security beneficiaries — and, in
part, a decrease in payroll taxes collected because of
<https://www.aarp.org/work/job-search/info-2020/september-unemployment-rate.
html> pandemic-driven job losses — the Social Security system is facing
increased stress. In their annual report, Social Security's trustees
estimated that the trust fund for retired workers and their survivors will
run short of money in 2034. A more pessimistic forecast from the
Congressional Budget Office estimated that the reserves in the trust fund
for retired workers and their survivors will be
<https://www.aarp.org/retirement/social-security/info-2020/benefits-trust-fu
nd-runs-out-by-2031.html> depleted in 2031. Even at that point, over
three-quarters of benefits could still be paid out from incoming payroll
taxes.

  _____  

<https://appsec.aarp.org/mem/join?campaignID=UBJFARTL&intcmp=DSO-MEM-ARTL-JO
IN> Save 25% when you join AARP and enroll in Automatic Renewal for first
year. Get instant access to discounts, programs, services, and the
information you need to benefit every area of your life.

  _____  

Social Security and Medicare Part B premiums

Most Social Security recipients will see their COLA reduced by an increase
in the
<https://www.aarp.org/health/medicare-insurance/info-2020/what-is-medicare.h
tml> Medicare premium. Medicare Part B premiums, which cover physician
visits and outpatient medical services, are deducted directly from Social
Security benefit payments. The 2021 monthly premium for Medicaid Part B
recipients is expected to be announced soon.

Under a recent change in law championed by AARP, the Medicare premium
increase for this year will be reduced, thus preserving a COLA for most
beneficiaries. Initially, higher emergency Medicare spending due to COVID-19
was projected to lead to very high Medicare premiums. Had the law not been
changed, most beneficiaries would have seen their COLA wiped out by Part B
premium increases, which for some beneficiaries were projected to be as high
as $25 to $50 per month. Even with the change in law, the increases in
payments to most Social Security beneficiaries are expected to be quite
small.

“Social Security is arguably the most important and successful program in
our nation’s history, providing vital benefits that individuals earn through
a lifetime of hard work and contributions to the system,” Jenkins says. “It
is the largest source of retirement income for most Americans and provides
nearly all income (90 percent or more) for 1 in 4 seniors. AARP will
continue advocating for bipartisan solutions to help ensure the long-term
solvency and adequacy of the Social Security program, to maintain its
dedicated funding stream and to protect the hard-earned benefits of millions
of Americans and their families.”

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