Pay Raises Not Always Welcomed
March 30, 2008, Washington -- Most people would like the ability to set their own salaries. The U.S. Constitution requires Congress to do just that.But it never has been a chore it relishes, and it has struggled with a variety of systems to accomplish it.

From 1789, when congressional salaries were $6 a day, until 1968 when they were $30,000 a year, Congress enacted stand-alone legislation for 18 separate salary adjustments. Partisan battles accompanied many of those votes, and sometimes a decade would pass between increases. (click for full article)

Democrats Get Wish: More Taxes!
March 14, 2008, WASHINGTON - The Senate rejected calls from both parties' presidential candidates to take an election-year break from pork-barrel spending as a Democratic-run Congress passed budget plans that would torpedo hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts won by President Bush. (click for full article)

Rebate Letters to Cost $42 Million
March 7, 2008, WASHINGTON — At a cost of nearly $42 million, the IRS wants you to know: Your check is almost in the mail.

The Internal Revenue Service is spending the money on letters to alert taxpayers to expect rebate checks as part of the economic stimulus plan. (click for full article)

Cost of Living Too Costly for Seniors
February 27, 2008, SACRAMENTO — The threshold for seniors to qualify for government assistance is so low that most Ventura County seniors who have incomes twice that high don't have enough money to pay for the necessities of living, a UCLA study released Tuesday shows. (click for full article)

2.8 % Increase Would Raise Average Benefit Just $30.20 Per Month During Economic Downturn
February 14,2008, WASHINGTON /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Late last month, the Congressional Budget Office published a little-noticed estimate that forecasts seniors will receive just a 2.8 percent increase in their Social Security checks beginning in January, 2009. (click for full article)

Consider Delaying Social Security Benefits
June 7, 2007 -- Over seven out of every 10 Americans opt to receive their Social Security checks as soon as possible. This is usually a mistake. By delaying when you start receiving your benefits, you may receive more money and ensure you have a better retirement in the long run. (click for full article)

Town Wants to Let Seniors Work Off Taxes
GREENBURGH, New York (AP) -- Audrey Davison lives alone, gets a $620 Social Security check each month and worries about the sharply rising taxes on her four-bedroom house. Davison, 76, raised her family there and after 43 years, she really doesn't want to leave Greenburgh. (click for full article)

2008 COLA Lowest in 4 Years!
WASHINGTON (AP) — Come January, Social Security benefits for nearly 50 million Americans are going up 2.3 percent, the smallest increase in four years. It will mean an extra $24 per month in the average check, the government announced Wednesday. (click for full article)

48 Million Seniors Forecast to Receive Second Smallest Social Security COLA '08
WASHINGTON, April 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In its annual report released to Congress earlier this week, Social Security's Trustees announced that the Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for 2008 -- the annual adjustment provided to seniors each year to help them keep up with inflation -- is forecast to be just 1.4 percent, and could be as low as 1.2 percent. (click for full article)

Many Seniors Will Receive Smaller Social Security Checks Next Year
October 18, 2006 (Washington DC) - Earlier today, the Social Security Administration announced that the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for 2007 would be 3.3 percent. That increase means that the average senior with a benefit of $1,011 will see a bump of $33 per month beginning in January. (click for full article)

Social Security Cost-of-living Adjustment Expected to Be Lower
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's nearly 49 million Social Security recipients are in line to get a smaller average increase in their monthly benefit checks in 2007 than they did this year, though less of the gain will be eaten up by rising Medicare premiums. (click for full article)

Social Security Adjustment Isn’t Calculating the Cost-of-living
Seniors’ Medicare premiums are rising so rapidly that in five years, the premiums alone will wipe out the annual cost-of-living adjustments in their Social Security checks, according to a new study.

The yearly cost-of-living adjustment is supposed to keep pace with inflation’s effect on the costs of energy, food and transportation. But the monthly premiums for Medicare Part B alone have gone up much faster than the cost-of-living adjustments, and the situation is expected to worsen. In addition to Medicare Part B doctors coverage, many seniors face higher-than-expected premiums for the new Part D drug coverage. (click for full article)

Cost-of-living Adjustments (COLAs)
Social Security recipients would be outraged if they knew how the annual cost of living adjustment is calculated. Did you know it has a direct effect on the amount of Social Security you will receive? (click for full article)

Higher Medicare Premium May Cut Social Security Benefits Next Year
Higher Medicare premiums are likely to cut Social Security benefits for many seniors in 2007. The lower benefits may come as a surprise, warns TREA Senior Citizens League, a national non-partisan seniors organization. (click for full article)

Statement by AARP CEO Bill Novelli on the 2006 Social Security COLA
On October 14, 2005 the Social Security Administration announced a 4.1 percent Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), the largest since 1990. Usually a record increase would be welcome news for America's 48 million Social Security beneficiaries. But this COLA is being eaten up by rising gasoline and heating costs, another double-digit increase in the monthly Medicare Part B premium and escalating healthcare bills. AARP believes that more should be done to prevent the future erosion of Social Security COLAs by controlling sharply rising healthcare costs. (click to read full article)

Social Security's 3.3% Raise Won't Keep Up With Health Care Costs
WASHINGTON — Americans collecting Social Security will see their payments rise 3.3% in January, a significant gain but maybe not enough to keep up with seniors' increasing costs. (click for full article)

Social Security Gets Cost of Living Boost
WASHINGTON - The cost of living adjustment intended to help more than 47 million Social Security recipients keep up with inflation is expected to be a tad larger in 2005 than it was this year, but the bad news is that much of the increase will be eaten up by higher Medicare premiums. (click for full article)

Social Security COLA Increase Doesn't Add Up for Millions of Seniors
Today, the Social Security Administration announced a 3.3% increase in the annual Cost of Living Adjustments for Social Security beneficiaries in 2007. The COLA increase will take effect January 1.

The 3.3% increase adds about $33.00 to the average Social Security check of $1,011.00. However, the rising premiums for Medicare Part B coverage and the Part D drug benefit, along with Medicare means testing which begins in January, will offset the COLA increase for millions of seniors. (click for full article)