There is both good news and bad news for Social Security recipients this year. The good news is that there will be a cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) in January of 2015 (unlike 2009 and 2010, when there was no COLA raise at all). The bad news is that it is only a tiny 1.7% increase -- one of the smallest increases in the last 15 years.
That means that a person receiving a check for $1000 a month right now will start getting $1017 a month in January. The average benefit is $1306 a month, which would result in a $22 raise per month.
But don't think most people get that average benefit. The median benefit (the amount where half of all recipients get less and half get more) is about $1192 a month. That means more than half of all recipients get less than the average benefit. Adding the 1.7% raise to the median benefit will put it at $1212 for 2015.
There is another small bit of good news. The Part B Medicare deduction will stay the same as it was in 2014 ($104.90 a month). That means Social Security recipients will get to keep all of the tiny raise they get in January.
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And while I'm discussing Social Security, let me remind you that the Republicans are telling two big lies about that program.
They say Social Security is going bankrupt. It is not! Social Security can continue to pay full benefits for another 22 years (until 2036). And after that, even if nothing is done, the program can continue to pay 80% of benefits far into the future. The program needs to be adjusted to make that 80% a full 100% -- but the program is not going broke, and it will be around when today's young people need it years from now.
They say that to save Social Security, benefits must be cut and the retirement age must be raised to 70 years of age. These are not only unnecessary, but hard-hearted. Many people in tough physical labor jobs cannot delay retirement until age 70 -- and with the median benefit being only around $1200 a month, cutting benefits would sink millions of recipients into poverty.
The Social Security program can easily be fixed without either cutting benefits or raising the retirement age. All that needs to be done is to raise the cap on FICA payroll tax to $250,000 (or eliminate it altogether). Raising the cap would extend the full benefit pay-out at least another 47 years (and eliminating the cap would push that far into the future) -- and it would do it without requiring a single penny more from those who can't afford it (those making less than $160,000 a year). It would just require the rich to pay the same percentage as working-class and middle-class earners already pay.
Thank goodness they aren't going to raise the Part B deduction because the supplemental insurance policy, which I must have since Medicare only pays 80% of any medical bills, has increased its premiums again. That will eat up about half of my COLA. And anyone who says prices aren't going up is lying. The only thing that is going down right now is gasoline. Retirees don't use much gasoline anyway so lower prices will help but not that much. My husband is 84 and works at Walmart as a greeter. Fortunately he loves his job.
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