Social Security benefits to take 5.8% jump in 2009

Hehehe, I will believe it when I see it. I still have to ask my SS to know what kind of benefit am I getting. I will give them a call on Monday. Ahhhh...Seeing is believing. :laugh2:
 
authentic said:
Oh no.
The percentage of tax deduction will increase on every employer's paychecks.
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My understanding is that the tax rate will go up some on those in the higher earnings brackets.
 
Nathan said:
Doesn't that affect the economy crisis? People are selfish and greedy these days.
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Maybe it does but it is not because of greed; it is because of a lawfully mandated built-in COLA.
 
Speaking of average...Isn't it going to increase every year as it usually do? Because mine do.
 
So in theory, you would get benefit from SS about say $900 a month with 5.8% additional which make it 963 by 2009 and after 2010 you would get 5.8% more about what you get from 2009 which make it 1026?
 
No, the average is 3%, this is one of highest since 1980. few years ago, it was very small I think 1.8%.

SSA usually announce the % increases every year in mid-October for the next year. In October 2009, it could be any number, depending on economy.


In fact, I believe that SSA pay out is way below what it was like back in 1972.

I can't image living on SSA checks! My job paid much more than what SSA would pay me. Surely, some of you think minimum wage is not enough to justify giving up SSI or SSDI. The truth is, usually minimum wage job last not long, maybe 2 to 5 years before you finally climb up with decent paid job. It took me 6 years to reach where I wanted and now that I am glad that I didn't stick to SSI for too long and miss the opportunity.

Nathan said:
So in theory, you would get benefit from SS about say $900 a month with 5.8% additional which make it 963 by 2009 and after 2010 you would get 5.8% more about what you get from 2009 which make it 1026?
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diehardbiker said:
No, the average is 3%, this is one of highest since 1980. few years ago, it was very small I think 1.8%.

SSA usually announce the % increases every year in mid-October for the next year. In October 2009, it could be any number, depending on economy.


In fact, I believe that SSA pay out is way below what it was like back in 1972.

I can't image living on SSA checks! My job paid much more than what SSA would pay me. Surely, some of you think minimum wage is not enough to justify giving up SSI or SSDI. The truth is, usually minimum wage job last not long, maybe 2 to 5 years before you finally climb up with decent paid job. It took me 6 years to reach where I wanted and now that I am glad that I didn't stick to SSI for too long and miss the opportunity.
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DHB, what are you saying , "no" to? Over 25 years ago it was 7.something and this time (for 2009) it will be 5.8%, the highest in a very long time.
This thread is supposedly about normal, regular SS benes that people who are retired, like me but somehow, this topic has veered off from the main point.
 
The SS/SSI benefits COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) is based on the CPI (Consumers Price Index) The CPI is an indicator of either inflation or deflation. It is an average of across-the-board prices excluding volatile (up n down) gas and food prices.

So simply put in...If the CPI goes up in 2008 by 5 percentage points, the SS/SSI COLA would be indexed to that. In 2009, if the CPI is at 3.9%, then your SS/SSI would go up by only 3.9%.

Oh by the way that's way more than the last raise I got last May at work...$48 a month extra. I wish my raises at work were indexed to the COLA, but my annual COLA raises are a set fixed-amount per year for the life of the contract the union has with the company. Too bad health insurance premiums ate up most of that raise..grr.
 
I am referring to Nathan's question that is if next year (2010) will get another 5.8% which is no. It could be any number, even zero is possible.

Social Security Administration covers SSI, SSDI, SSA benefits. Actually the SSA has disability insurance build in the system. 5.8% increases applies to all SSA programs. So, it has not run off the topic so far.

Tousi said:
DHB, what are you saying , "no" to? Over 25 years ago it was 7.something and this time (for 2009) it will be 5.8%, the highest in a very long time.
This thread is supposedly about normal, regular SS benes that people who are retired, like me but somehow, this topic has veered off from the main point.
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Yes this is indeed correct. Most employers don't index the COLA when it comes to pay raise. The pay raises usually reflect how you performed your job. If you perform poorly, you get less pay raise, VS excellent performace and extra miles put by employees usually get fat raises.

sablescort said:
The SS/SSI benefits COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) is based on the CPI (Consumers Price Index) The CPI is an indicator of either inflation or deflation. It is an average of across-the-board prices excluding volatile (up n down) gas and food prices.

So simply put in...If the CPI goes up in 2008 by 5 percentage points, the SS/SSI COLA would be indexed to that. In 2009, if the CPI is at 3.9%, then your SS/SSI would go up by only 3.9%.

Oh by the way that's way more than the last raise I got last May at work...$48 a month extra. I wish my raises at work were indexed to the COLA, but my annual COLA raises are a set fixed-amount per year for the life of the contract the union has with the company. Too bad health insurance premiums ate up most of that raise..grr.
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Here is the news from the SSA website.

Social Security Announces Benefit Increase for 2009

SOCIAL SECURITY
News Release
Social Security Announces 5.8 Percent Benefit Increase for 2009
(Printer friendly version)
Monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits for more than 55 million Americans will increase 5.8 percent in 2009, the Social Security Administration announced today. The 5.8 percent increase is the largest since 1982.

Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits increase automatically each year based on the rise in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), from the third quarter of the prior year to the corresponding period of the current year. This year's increase in the CPI-W was 5.8 percent.

The 5.8 percent Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits that over 50 million Social Security beneficiaries receive in January 2009. Increased payments to more than 7 million Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries will begin on December 31.

Some other changes that take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages. Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) will increase to $106,800 from $102,000. Of the estimated 164 million workers who will pay Social Security taxes in 2009, about 11 million will pay higher taxes as a result of the increase in the taxable maximum.
Information about Medicare changes for 2009 can be found at Medicare.gov - The Official U.S. Government Site for People with Medicare.
 
I read about the soical securety beneifits that going up for "seniors citizens" but when I read the whole story in news paper, it don't say anything about people on disabilities will get more on soical security benefits.
 
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