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Recipients of Social Security and Supplementary Security Income (SSI) will receive increased payments in 2022. This is the highest increase in almost 40 years, according to the latest estimates from the Senior Citizens League.
Those who receive retirement allowances and disability allowances every year Get adjusted for living expenses To catch up with inflation. According to the group, the adjustment could reach 6.2% in 2022.
“This estimate is important because COLA is based on the average of July, August and September (Consumer Price Index) data,” said Mary Johnson, a social security policy analyst at the Senior Citizens’ Federation. I am. “The 2022 COLA seems to be the highest payment since 7.4% in 1983, as it already contains one-third of the data needed to calculate the COLA.”
According to the group, social security benefits increased by 1.3% and average benefits increased by about $ 20 this year. However, about 86% of social security recipients say their costs have increased even further.
NS The economy is still struggling to recover From the COVID-19 pandemic, Forbes reported that the price in July 2021 was 5.4% higher than in July 2020.
According to Forbes, next year’s cost of living adjustments could be even higher than the expected 6.2% increase as the index used to determine inflation is affected by gas prices, which rose more than 40% this year. there is.
Of the retirees surveyed in a survey by the Elderly Federation, 34% used emergency savings, 20% changed their retirement savings investment, 19% withdrew more than usual retirement savings, and 19% supplemented nutritional support. I applied for program benefits or went to a food pantry.
“If retirees do not receive COLA to keep up with the actual costs, their social security benefits lose purchasing power in the process of retirement,” the group writes. “Based on inflation up to March, according to a Johnson survey, social security benefits have lost 30% of their purchasing power since 2000.”
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