jimmy

You don't just add up the 30+10+10+10+10 to get 70%. There is a combined rating table that gives the overall rating. On the main page is a calculator that you can plug in the numbers and it gives the total. http://www.hadit.com/service_connected_dis..._calculator.php Your feet are bilateral and I'm not sure how to put that in, but I'm sure someone will tell us how.

The raise based on the CPI-W is the same for VA, military retirement and Social Security. Active duty will be different amount and is not based on the CPI-W.

I think the CPI-W will drop again next month. The CPI-W increased in SEP 07 so the drop will be a double whamy to the average. I think we will probably get between 5.5 and 5.7.

We have used AFVC a lot. When we first started using them it was $189 which was awesome, but it is still a pretty good deal. We are up to 4 kids now and having a kitchen has saved us a lot and made it possible to make more trips. Some have 24 hr front desks and others have limited hours, but the website tells you what you need to do to check in. We have never had a bad experience, but some resorts have been better than others. Some have a lot of free activities and others charge for them. For instance, we stayed at Lake Okoboji in Iowa and the resort had free canoes, paddle boats, bicycles etc. but Orlando had to rent bicycles. The AFVC website has some information on the website and you can Google the particular resort and find out more information. You don't have to go the sales pitch. We have gone to some depending on what they were offering to attend (I really like free tickets and gift cards) and what our schedule is. They have a hard time trying to sell one to you when the yearly maintenance charge is more than you are paying for a week stay.

I think the 5-7% is a good guess. I can't see us getting down to 3%. The CPI-W has increased every month for the last 10 months and is up 12.708 points which would be a 6.24% COLA increase if only July is used. The COLA is based on an average change over the last three months of the FY. With July at 6.24%, even if we lose half of that 10 month gain in August and the other half of the gain in September, we would still be at a 3.12% increase in COLA. While the CPI-W includes things many of use do not purchase, food and energy are included in the CPI-W that is used to calculate our COLA. There are energy categories in both Transportation and Housing which specifically include: gasoline, fuel oil, natural gas and electricy. The Food categories include: food at home, food away from homme and alcohol.

Core inflation has food and energy stripped out, but that isn't what is used to calculate our COLA. The CPI-W is what determines our COLA and does cover food and energy. Through June the CPI-W was up 5.7%, but will probably drop during the JUL-SEP period that determies our COLA. The CPI represents all goods and services purchased for consumption by the reference population (U or W) BLS has classified all expenditure items into more than 200 categories, arranged into eight major groups. Major groups and examples of categories in each are as follows: FOOD AND BEVERAGES (breakfast cereal, milk, coffee, chicken, wine, service meals and snacks) HOUSING (rent of primary residence, owners' equivalent rent, fuel oil, bedroom furniture) APPAREL (men's shirts and sweaters, women's dresses, jewelry) TRANSPORTATION (new vehicles, airline fares, gasoline, motor vehicle insurance) MEDICAL CARE (prescription drugs and medical supplies, physicians' services, eyeglasses and eye care, hospital services) RECREATION (televisions, pets and pet products, sports equipment, admissions); EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION (college tuition, postage, telephone services, computer software and accessories); OTHER GOODS AND SERVICES (tobacco and smoking products, haircuts and other personal services, funeral expenses). Also included within these major groups are various government-charged user fees, such as water and sewerage charges, auto registration fees, and vehicle tolls. In addition, the CPI includes taxes (such as sales and excise taxes) that are directly associated with the prices of specific goods and services. However, the CPI excludes taxes (such as income and Social Security taxes) not directly associated with the purchase of consumer goods and services. The CPI does not include investment items, such as stocks, bonds, real estate, and life insurance. (These items relate to savings and not to day-to-day consumption expenses.) For each of the more than 200 item categories, using scientific statistical procedures, the Bureau has chosen samples of several hundred specific items within selected business establishments frequented by consumers to represent the thousands of varieties available in the marketplace. For example, in a given supermarket, the Bureau may choose a plastic bag of golden delicious apples, U.S. extra fancy grade, weighing 4.4 pounds to represent the Apples category.

It is usually the 16th of the month - give or take for weekends it can be from the 13th to the 20th. The important months for the calculation are July, August and September and they will be released 14 AUG, 16 SEP, and 16 OCT. The link for the homepage for CPI is http://www.bls.gov/cpi/home.htm

I have had 2 changes in my rating that resulted in retro awards. The first went from 30% to 50% and the retro took 3 months from my decision letter. The second one from 50% to 70% took 4 months from the decision letter. In both cases DFAS CRDP section worked the retro award and then they sent the information to the VA who paid the award. Once DFAS sent me a letter saying they reviewed my file and I was paid what I was owed .... then the retro payment came from the VA the next pay day. The VA never had any visibility on the payment until it was made. After receiving the retro award the VA sent me a letter outlining how it was calculated. Based on my experience you should get your retro award 3-4 months after your letter dated Jan 10, 2008. Have you called DFAS CRDP section to see if they received anything from the VA and are working the issue?

I had the same thing happen. I called the VA when the deposit hit in DEC without the increase. They said I would have to send a letter requesting them to adjust my payment to reflect the COLA and ask for it to be applied retroactively. My deposit the end of JAN still didn't reflect the change so I called the 800 number again. They said they received my letter 3 JAN and were working the issue. I thought it should be an easy fix but it's the VA. I asked how this could happen and was told there is a small group of I think they said pension receiptents that don't get a COLA so there is a code they input to have the COLA applied automaticly. They said for some unknown reason I did not have the code for COLA but they agreed I should have received it. They are working the issue to have my code changed. Seems to me if it is small group that don't get COLA, the default should be to get COLA and a code should be required to stop COLA. Doesn't make me feel better to hear them say don't worry we are working the issue.

I received my CRDP Retro from my original decision dated FEB 07 in MAY 07, and from an increase in rating decision dated AUG 07 on 31 DEC 07.

I just checked MyPay website and DFAS has posted my 1 FEB 08 RAS with updated CRDP amounts.

Here is the difference as I see it -- someone retired with 15 years is required to give up $1 of their retired pay to receive $1 of VA benefit. Someone who has put in 15 good years isn't asked to give up a $1 to receive $1 in VA benefits. Both CRSC and CRDP were put in to provide relief to retirees who were forced to fund their own VA disability payments. The next step is to push for those with less than 50% rating to qualify for CRDP.

I don't think you would qualify even under the proposed bill. Both CRSC and CRDP require you to be retired. The bill is designed to help 2 groups who aren't eligible now. One is the medically retired with less than 20 years. The second are those who retired with at least 15 but less than 20 years under the Temporary Early Retirement Act which has experied. It looks like you have 15 years but are not retired.

http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpifaq.htm 7. What goods and services does the CPI cover? The CPI represents all goods and services purchased for consumption by the reference population (U or W) BLS has classified all expenditure items into more than 200 categories, arranged into eight major groups. Major groups and examples of categories in each are as follows: FOOD AND BEVERAGES (breakfast cereal, milk, coffee, chicken, wine, service meals and snacks) HOUSING (rent of primary residence, owners' equivalent rent, fuel oil, bedroom furniture) APPAREL (men's shirts and sweaters, women's dresses, jewelry) TRANSPORTATION (new vehicles, airline fares, gasoline, motor vehicle insurance) MEDICAL CARE (prescription drugs and medical supplies, physicians' services, eyeglasses and eye care, hospital services) RECREATION (televisions, pets and pet products, sports equipment, admissions); EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION (college tuition, postage, telephone services, computer software and accessories); OTHER GOODS AND SERVICES (tobacco and smoking products, haircuts and other personal services, funeral expenses). Also included within these major groups are various government-charged user fees, such as water and sewerage charges, auto registration fees, and vehicle tolls. In addition, the CPI includes taxes (such as sales and excise taxes) that are directly associated with the prices of specific goods and services. However, the CPI excludes taxes (such as income and Social Security taxes) not directly associated with the purchase of consumer goods and services. The CPI does not include investment items, such as stocks, bonds, real estate, and life insurance. (These items relate to savings and not to day-to-day consumption expenses.) For each of the more than 200 item categories, using scientific statistical procedures, the Bureau has chosen samples of several hundred specific items within selected business establishments frequented by consumers to represent the thousands of varieties available in the marketplace. For example, in a given supermarket, the Bureau may choose a plastic bag of golden delicious apples, U.S. extra fancy grade, weighing 4.4 pounds to represent the Apples category.

Core inflation is where the volitile items are excluded. Food and Gasoline are a part of the CPI-W calculation which determines our COLA. Here is a link showing all categories used for the CPI-W numbers : www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.t04.htm Seems like everything I'm buying has seemed to have gone up a lot more than 2.3%.