Mr Lee Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 (edited) Good news for Americans living on SS. I hope it is true for a lot of Americans sake and I am sure some or most of it will trickle down to help the Philippines as well, at least by those of us who are in someway involved in the Philippines. Social Security to hand out first raises since '09 WASHINGTON (AP) — Social Security recipients will get a raise in January — their first increase in benefits since 2009. It's expected to be about 3.5 percent.Some 55 million beneficiaries will find out for sure Wednesday when a government inflation measure that determines the annual cost-of-living adjustment is released. Edited October 18, 2011 by Mr. Lee add Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJReyes Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 Cost for Medicare B will also rise effectively lowering any increase in Social Security benefits. An interesting study is how the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is calculated. For example, gasoline is not included. Their reasoning is prices at the pump at too volatile. It goes up and down. Someone forgot to inform those government bean counters that it is mostly up and the cost for gasoline represents a large chunk of the family budget. By eliminating items such as gasoline and certain foods from the CPI, the inflation rate during the past two years is nearly zero. There is also the deceptive practice of package shrinkage. I recently purchase my favorite brand of coffee. The size of the can and price are still the same, but the coffee content had been reduced from 16 oz to 12 oz. JJR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art2ro Posted October 19, 2011 Posted October 19, 2011 What COLA? When I was still working for Civil Service, my last 5 yrs of working, my $50 annual COLA would just go towards the increase in my government group medical health plan by $50 annually and that's why our monthly premiums doubled from $248 to $512 a month for two when I retired 6 yrs early! Anyway, I got back at them, when I qualified for TRICARE with no monthly premiums 3 yrs ago, I suspended my Civil Service Government health plan and all that $512 a month premium went back into my pocket as extra cash, that's $512 X 36 months = $18,432 (that's a yearly cash reserve of $6,144). So, if we don't get sick, it's that much more that goes into our piggy bank every month! So, the SS COLA in Jan 2012 will just go towards the increase of one's SS Part B or whatever parts there of! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve & Myrlita Posted October 19, 2011 Posted October 19, 2011 What COLA? When I was still working for Civil Service, my last 5 yrs of working, my $50 annual COLA would just go towards the increase in my government group medical health plan by $50 annually and that's why our monthly premiums doubled from $248 to $512 a month for two when I retired 6 yrs early! Anyway, I got back at them, when I qualified for TRICARE with no monthly premiums 3 yrs ago, I suspended my Civil Service Government health plan and all that $512 a month premium went back into my pocket as extra cash, that's $512 X 36 months = $18,432 (that's a yearly cash reserve of $6,144). So, if we don't get sick, it's that much more that goes into our piggy bank every month! So, the SS COLA in Jan 2012 will just go towards the increase of one's SS Part B or whatever parts there of! I stopped part B in 07 when I got here. I did not feel it worth paying for something that was useless here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art2ro Posted October 19, 2011 Posted October 19, 2011 What COLA? When I was still working for Civil Service, my last 5 yrs of working, my $50 annual COLA would just go towards the increase in my government group medical health plan by $50 annually and that's why our monthly premiums doubled from $248 to $512 a month for two when I retired 6 yrs early! Anyway, I got back at them, when I qualified for TRICARE with no monthly premiums 3 yrs ago, I suspended my Civil Service Government health plan and all that $512 a month premium went back into my pocket as extra cash, that's $512 X 36 months = $18,432 (that's a yearly cash reserve of $6,144). So, if we don't get sick, it's that much more that goes into our piggy bank every month! So, the SS COLA in Jan 2012 will just go towards the increase of one's SS Part B or whatever parts there of! I stopped part B in 07 when I got here. I did not feel it worth paying for something that was useless here. In our situation when I turn 65 two yrs from now, (even though we can't use Medicare in the RP), Medicare Part B is mandatory at $108 or maybe more a month in order for us to keep our TRICARE medical health benefit in tact through the military, which we don't pay any premiums which is one of the perks of our TRICARE medical health benefit living here in the RP permanently, living in the U.S., it would cost around I think $48 a month per person not including Medicare Part B at $108 a month! The U.S. Government eventually get us one way or another! So, if I don't apply for my Medicare Part B at age 65, we will loose our TRICARE medical health benefits totally! What a rip off eh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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