Look What Trump Just Did For Social Security Recipients — They Said He Couldn’t Do It!
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President Trump defied critics and just made a lot of people very happy with the announcement that came from the Social Security Administration, They have happily announced that Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits for over 66 million Americans will increase 2 percent during 2018, an increase coming instead of a decrease, giving back a few more dollars to people who’ve worked hard their entire lives.
The 2% cost-of-living adjustment will begin with benefits payable to more than 61 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2018 and continue with the rest later in the year. The Social Security Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2017.
Some other adjustments that take effect throughout 2018 are based on the increase in average wages. Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax will increase to $128,700 from $127,200. Of the estimated, 175 million workers who will pay Social Security taxes in 2018 and about 12 million of which will pay more because of the increase in the taxable maximum.
This has been stated as the largest increase since 2012, but people would like to see even more of an increase if possible. Of course, that could depend on where people live as the cost of living might be different in New York compared to a midwestern state.
The following press release was posted on SSA.Gov: “Monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for more than 66 million Americans will increase 2.0 percent in 2018, the Social Security Administration announced today.
The 2.0 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 61 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2018. Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 29, 2017. (Note: some people receive both Social Security and SSI benefits) The Social Security Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Some other adjustments 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 $128,400 (1) from $127,200. Of the estimated 175 million workers who will pay Social Security taxes in 2018, about 12 million will pay more because of the increase in the taxable maximum.
Information about Medicare changes for 2018, when announced, will be available at www.medicare.gov.
The Social Security Act provides for how the COLA is calculated. To read more, please visit www.socialsecurity.gov/cola.”
People who would like more information can review the following fact sheet which provides even more information.
If you’re wondering what to do with the extra income, or how much it is, then please refer to the following information provided by USNews: “The average Social Security check is $1,377 a month, and so next year, a typical payment will climb by $27 a month.
“It all comes down to the individual,” he says. “If the person needs that amount to meet their monthly financial needs, then, obviously, that is the best use of the money. They earned the benefit, and they should use the money to make their lives a bit easier. If the person or couple doesn’t need the money to maintain their standard of living because they have other streams of income, then they can use the money in a multitude of ways.”
And while $27 a month isn’t much, Dellutri points out that if you’re married, and you both have $27 a month coming in, that’s $54 a month. It still isn’t a fortune, but it adds up to $648 a year. And if you have other sources of retirement revenue, chances are, you could use that $648 for something useful.”
Critics would certainly say this isn’t enough of an increase, but if someone handed you $648, would you take it?
How do you feel about the increase? Share this with a friend who gets social security and write your comments below.