Cola

[john999]

I see that our cola is about 2% for the year so far. This is preposterous considering the cost of homeowners insurance,gas, electric, food, clothing, housing and all the rest. In my neighborhood where I have access to VA care and doctors who can help me I could not afford to buy my own house if it was on the market today. I feel under seige. My private medical insurance and Part B and homeowners insurance continue to climb. For anyone trying to live just on VA and SSA the prospects are dim. I have really pulled in my horns when it comes to spending and I am thinking how to make my money last. This is not what I had in mind ten years ago when I was making good money and had a 401K and a pension. Now I feel like a beggar/

[Billyboy]

Hello John, I to was having a hard, SSI and VA just doesn't do it. So we decided to take a reverse mortgage on the homestead. My son’s ask? What’s a reverse mortgage? I told them I was spending their inheritance. That’s about the only was we could do it. bill

[Pete53]

So the COLA has dropped in half in one month?

Don't seem right.

[Peacenik]

I see that our cola is about 2% for the year so far. This is preposterous considering the cost of homeowners insurance,gas, electric, food, clothing, housing and all the rest. In my neighborhood where I have access to VA care and doctors who can help me I could not afford to buy my own house if it was on the market today. I feel under seige. My private medical insurance and Part B and homeowners insurance continue to climb. For anyone trying to live just on VA and SSA the prospects are dim. I have really pulled in my horns when it comes to spending and I am thinking how to make my money last. This is not what I had in mind ten years ago when I was making good money and had a 401K and a pension. Now I feel like a beggar/

The COLA number so far is 4.1%, not 2%.

Unfortunately though, The sept number has to come in high because we had a high number last sept.

The final tally will be available on Oct 18th. I suspect that because oil prices are dropping that 4.1% will end up in the area of 2.9-3.4% That's just an educated guess. I don't see it dropping below 2.7% though. That's just not gonna happen. I'll post the real number on the morning of the 18th.

Edited September 25, 2006 by Peacenik (see edit history)

[Pete53]

The COLA number so far is 4.1%, not 2%.

Unfortunately though, The sept number has to come in high because we had a high number last sept.

The final tally will be available on Oct 18th. I suspect that because oil prices are dropping that 4.1% will end up in the area of 2.9-3.4% That's just an educated guess. I don't see it dropping below 2.7% though. That's just not gonna happen. I'll post the real number on the morning of the 18th.

How come they only count Oil Prices when they go down?

[Peacenik]

The cost of groceries and gasoline are not in the equation (cost of living increases) because they "fluctuate too much". But groceries and gas have increased enormously in the last 2 years.

They will announce the increase, but the President always has the last say.... and he usually always lowers the percentage a bit.... like minus one-half a percent or 1 full percentage. What we need, we won't get because of the growing federal deficiet. We'll get a meager 2.75% and need an 8% increase. We are sinking.... loosing more and more buying power. 2.75% means we loose more ground, again.

It's a shame.

Not true, the cola is based solely on the CPI/W.

By the way, I agree that the rate of inflation is higher than that. You just have to live and breathe to know that.

My best to you.

[john999]

Billyboy

I understand the money you get from the reverse mortgage is tax free. If you know you are going to move this is a path to increase the cash flow. Your 100% is supposed to be able to support you and your family. What a joke since we are all going in the hole unless we had about an 8% cola every year or they increased the total amount for 100% to about $50,000 instead of $30,000. We spend our golden years clipping coupons and going to yard sales.