Social Security benefits to rise 5.9 percent for roughly 70 million people in 2022

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

The Social Security Administration announced Wednesday that its beneficiaries will see a 5.9 percent increase in their benefit checks starting next year — the largest boost to benefits in close to four decades. The adjustment will be made for 64 million Social Security beneficiaries as well as 8 million Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries. Some Americans receive both benefits.

The cost-of-living increase, which will impact roughly 70 million people starting in late December and January, is tied to a measure of inflation that has surged this year as prices rise in a U.S. economy emerging from the coronavirus pandemic. Experts caution that millions of seniors will in reality see substantially less than a 6 percent bump, because Medicare Part B premiums are deducted from Social Security beneficiaries’ checks and are tied to seniors’ income.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday that prices rose 0.4 percent in September compared to August. Overall, prices are up 5.4 percent are up over the last year. The “cost of living adjustment” that determines Social Security payment hikes is based on a different measure of inflation, but they both capture similar phenomenon in the economy.

The Social Security benefit increase has averaged about 1.7 percent over the last 10 years. This year’s increase amounts to the biggest since 1982, experts say. “This is welcome but inadequate — healthcare and prescription drug costs have been going up way faster than seniors’ cost of living. People’s Social Security benefits have been eroding," Nancy Altman, co-director of Social Security Works, a nonprofit group.


Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/10/13/social-security-inflation-adjustment/

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Saw it buried in the BLS CPI report and did guess correctly - https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=2812405

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W)
increased 5.9 percent over the last 12 months to an index level of 269.086
(1982-84=100). For the month, the index rose 0.3 percent prior to seasonal
adjustment.

[jmbar2]

1. I wish the Biden package had a bigger raise for SS.

This doesn't really cover rising costs in housing, fuel, and medical out-of-pocket.

[meow2u3]

7. Budget reconciliation cannot involve Social Security

I'm pretty sure that if Biden could, he'd change the COLA rules to CPI-E, thus giving SS recipents a bigger raise.

[SheltieLover]

2. Meanwhile food prices are up 60% & gas is way up, too

Heating fuel projected to be 2-3 times as high, which will drive electricity prices up.

5.9%? Really? Pfffffft. This is an insult, imo.

COLA needs to include food, gas & utility prices!

[Sherman A1]

3. Well, it's better than a poke in the eye

and better than we saw under the Obama administration.

[Casady1]

14. Food is not up 60%

and gas is 8 cents more than before the pandemic.

[SheltieLover]

24. Not true here.

[Irish_Dem]

21. I can't believe food prices.

I go to the store, buy one bag of groceries and check my receipt thinking they must have made a mistake.

[SheltieLover]

25. Same here!

[Irish_Dem]

26. Hi Sheltie!

[SheltieLover]

27. Hi IrishDem

[Deminpenn]

32. 20 years ago, gas went up to about $2.50/gal

It's around 50 cents to $1 higher today.

Food prices for some items have increased, but imo, you have to figure some of that is from the higher wages now being paid to employees.

[Historic NY]

5. The only way it can change is they way SS increases are calculated....

My state pension pretty much follows the same formula

[Historic NY]

6. The anti-socialism crowd should forego the raise.

[Wounded Bear]

8. Hopefully, my landlord doesn't see this...

Seriously, though, my rent went up enough to seriously dent my SS increase in prior years. We didn't get bumped last year or this year yet, I think because of covid protocols in my state, but all bets are off this coming year.

[Evolve Dammit]

9. Most of us are on a greased rope. The future does not look good to me. Wages have

been eroding for decades. The "market" is all most folks have, and until you take the profits, it's still vulnerable.

[Evolve Dammit]

10. actually that's not true. Only half of U.S. have any stocks and/or bonds. Half have nothing.

[marble falls]

12. I bet it's less than half, and that a good portion of those who do, are involved with stocks from ..

... 'schemes' like 401k's

[Karma13612]

19. Two employers

I worked for in my lifetime both put my pension money in the stock market. Since I am not an investment wizard, I had no idea about managing it. And I watched it collapse back in 1999/2000 and again in 2008/09.

I am retired 2 years now and have constant anxiety for every time the stock market tanks.

There should have been more options for employees who didn’t want to invest in the stock market and then have to face the fluctuations. It just isn’t right. And I can’t take it out quickly because I am then taxed at the really high rate as if I had a 6-figure job for a year, at least according to the financial person at the bank. I have never broken 50K a year income my whole working life.

The debt ceiling thing has me super scared because I understand the stock market will crash if the US defaults. And there goes my nest egg that is meant to last for the next 30 years (according to my family’s history of longevity). And if I pull it out, I get that huge tax penalty.

Between a rock and a hard place with zero zero zero options.

It just isn’t right.

[displacedtexan]

20. I just took my annual IRA distribution instead of rolling it over.

We didn’t have to take it the last 2 years, but it was mandatory this year. I'm gad I took it, and I hope I don't regret it, but I'm afraid of a a market slump before the end of the year and I'd hate for the bit of extra cash to get gobbled up by losses.
But here's the weird thing this week. We both get Social Security, and we got extra checks last Friday for half of our usual amounts. We panicked because we get paid on Wednesdays. This morning, our usual monthly amounts were deposited as usual.
Anyone know why this happened?

[Evolve Dammit]

23. Not sure what happened. I moved everything to fixed when 45 was talking fire and fury shit.

[marble falls]

11. Wooo hooooo! I'll be rollin' in it!

[Farmer-Rick]

13. Seems a lot of the cost of living increase

Will be eaten up by increases in Medicare premiums.

Can't really increase it because the filthy rich don't pay taxes on most of their income.

[moriah]

15. Have they announced Part B premiums yet?

The two can cancel each other out, and given just how much the pandemic has cost Medicare, I kinda expect a ginormous increase in Part B premiums.

But at the same time, this is REALLY good news for those drawing benefits low enough that their Part B premiums are already paid and they get extra help with Part D costs -- the people who need it the most. So even if the new Medicare premiums suck all of any COLA away from me, I'm glad that others who weren't as lucky as I was are going to get help.

[Voltaire2]

22. They will cancel out.

Almost alway B increases the same as benefits.

[peppertree]

16. Besides medical costs, the biggest inflation problem since '82 has been RENT

Which, as someone aptly put it, is too damn high.

Official CPI prices overall may by 2.7 times higher than in '83 - but rent is easily 5 or 6 times higher (around 10 times higher in hot-spot cities).

[Bengus81]

17. Thanks but it won't even cover RIP OFF gas prices and RIP OFF home Property tax increases....

Both are nothing but gouging from a Pandemic crisis. The ridiculous property tax increases will still remain when this big demand for homes peters out and property values drop like a rock.

And...let me guess. The Health Care Industrial Complex will see that 5.9% increase and raise Medicare Supplemental plans by....well 5.9%.

[Naio]

18. My landlord will take part of it and Medicare will increase the premiums

Medicare will be from

$148.50 to $157.70 I just read .

[CountAllVotes]

28. Thanks for that info.

It is very helpful.

[CountAllVotes]

29. This will help my household a bit

It will be ~$100 which will pay half of the garbage bill and part of the water bill as well.

I'll take anything I can get these days as no extra stimulus monies came our way but you'd think they would have.

I guess elderly people and disabled veterans don't count much. Not that they ever did anyway.

[geretogo]

30. I haven't seen a decent increase in SS in many years . Medicare takes most of it

[honest.abe]

31. I just applied for ss benefits starting in November.

This will be nice unexpected bump up coming in January. I am still working so I dont have to pay Medicare part B premiums so this will be a clean "raise".