Dear John,

Next year’s 5.9% Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) is welcome news for many older Americans living on fixed incomes. Yet, it will be quickly consumed by higher Medicare premiums and soaring prices on items like food and gas.

While seniors are about to receive the biggest COLA in more than 40 years due to pandemic-related inflation, it doesn’t make up for decades of record low or zero COLAs which have continued to erode seniors’ purchasing power. Retirees across America consistently tell us that their annual COLAs are simply not adequate.

As you know, this year’s COLA was a tiny 1.3% — which is about an extra $20 a month for the average senior. Of course, any senior will tell you their costs went up a lot more than 1.3% this year! And due to inflation and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, many older Americans were forced to dip into their savings just to afford their basic needs.

Bottom line, it shouldn’t take a pandemic and soaring inflation to give seniors a fair COLA! It just goes to show how deeply flawed the current COLA formula is. Social Security is basing “raises” off of the spending habits of working-age urban and clerical workers — not off of the very different spending patterns of seniors who are actually receiving Social Security benefits!

The health and financial security of millions of older Americans depend on getting a fair and accurate COLA every year. So please support our advocacy efforts in Washington to pass legislation now pending in Congress that would strengthen the retirement security of America’s seniors by adopting the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E), which more accurately measures how inflation affects older Americans.

It’s time to take action that provides seniors with protection against the insidious effects of inflation for the rest of their lives!

Sincerely,

Max Richtman
President & CEO