Is the COLA increase fair?

I read that the Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment is going up 2.8% this year.

It sure seems to me that small increase does not even come close to keeping up with the inflation we've actually seen and experienced this year.

Quote: missedhervee

I read that the Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment is going up 2.8% this year.

It sure seems to me that small increase does not even come close to keeping up with the inflation we've actually seen and experienced this year.

2.8% is about right

The CPI over the past twelve months is 3%.

https://www.bls.gov/cpi/

per google / AI:

"The annual U.S. inflation rate for 2005 was 3.4%, based on the annual average Consumer Price Index (CPI). This is the rate of inflation for the entire year, with the final annual rate calculated to be 3.4%"

Whatever, seems to have been higher, e.g. meat prices etc. soaring.

Quote: missedhervee

per google / AI:

"The annual U.S. inflation rate for 2005 was 3.4%, based on the annual average Consumer Price Index (CPI). This is the rate of inflation for the entire year, with the final annual rate calculated to be 3.4%"

Whatever, seems to have been higher, e.g. meat prices etc. soaring.

Are you aware of how much less you are paying for a giant TV? A toaster oven? All you can eat soup and salad at Red Sauce? Walmart individual dessert pies?

I, though, like you, certainly notice the higher prices much more than I do lower or stagnant ones. If you are paying the same $2 for a loaf of bread do you say…. Wow, there is no inflation!

The COL increase is around $800 a year for me. I’ll take it.

Quote: missedhervee

per google / AI:

"The annual U.S. inflation rate for 2005 was 3.4%, based on the annual average Consumer Price Index (CPI). This is the rate of inflation for the entire year, with the final annual rate calculated to be 3.4%"

That is correct. The annual U.S. inflation rate for 2005 was 3.4%. However, per Google AI and the BLS:

"The annual rate of inflation in 2025 was 3.0% as of September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and CNBC. This is an increase from the 2.9% rate in August 2025. For the 12 months ending in August 2025, the inflation rate was 2.9%."

Not saying the figure is wrong, just saying my spending power seems to have lessened by a greater degree over the past year.

Quote: SOOPOO

Are you aware of how much less you are paying for a giant TV? A toaster oven? All you can eat soup and salad at Red Sauce? Walmart individual dessert pies?

I, though, like you, certainly notice the higher prices much more than I do lower or stagnant ones. If you are paying the same $2 for a loaf of bread do you say…. Wow, there is no inflation!

The COL increase is around $800 a year for me. I’ll take it.

WHen was the last time you ate a big screen TV for dinner, or burned a taster oven in the furnace to keep the house warm in the winter?

Quote: GenoDRPh

WHen was the last time you ate a big screen TV for dinner, or burned a taster oven in the furnace to keep the house warm in the winter?

They are things I need to buy for my life, just like I need to buy food. Last year I had to buy 3 giant screen TVs and a laptop. Walmart Black Friday sale had the total at under $1500. In 2010 I paid $1500 for ONE giant screen TV, which was less giant than the 3 I bought. Toaster oven $20. Who gets anything for $20? I’m not saying that food inflation isn’t real, or significant. Just it’s not the only thing people need to buy. I had 4 (cheap) hot dogs for dinner. Two on whole wheat slices of bread. Two plain. A hunk of Brie cheese. Diet Pepsi. Maybe $6? (Brie is expensive).

Point being, I’ll pay an extra nickel for my milk twice a month if I can get 3 TV’s for the price of 1.

Quote: SOOPOO

They are things I need to buy for my life, just like I need to buy food. Last year I had to buy 3 giant screen TVs and a laptop. Walmart Black Friday sale had the total at under $1500. In 2010 I paid $1500 for ONE giant screen TV, which was less giant than the 3 I bought. Toaster oven $20. Who gets anything for $20? I’m not saying that food inflation isn’t real, or significant. Just it’s not the only thing people need to buy. I had 4 (cheap) hot dogs for dinner. Two on whole wheat slices of bread. Two plain. A hunk of Brie cheese. Diet Pepsi. Maybe $6? (Brie is expensive).

Point being, I’ll pay an extra nickel for my milk twice a month if I can get 3 TV’s for the price of 1.

Comparing the prices of TVs, toaster ovens or crock pots (my next purchase) to the price of food or groceries is comparing apples to bowling balls. Those items are purchased at different times, at different frequencies, at different price points and at different budgets and have differing impacts on the economy.

How much are those 3 TVs, laptop and toaster oven today?

Quote: GenoDRPh

Comparing the prices of TVs, toaster ovens or crock pots (my next purchase) to the price of food or groceries is comparing apples to bowling balls. Those items are purchased at different times, at different frequencies, at different price points and at different budgets and have differing impacts on the economy.

How much are those 3 TVs, laptop and toaster oven today?

No idea on the toaster or laptop. But the TVs are much cheaper still!

I’m not saying inflation isn’t real, or a problem, or even not expected! You want me to show you 100 SOOPOO posts that predicted this when the damn broke on the guaranteed minimum wage? When the kid stocking the milk now gets $17 an hour instead of $10 an hour I wonder what will happen to the price of milk? When the guy making $17 an hour to tell the kid when to stock the milk now wants $22 an hour, what will happen to the price of milk? When the (tipped!) waiter now must be paid $15 an hour instead of the previous $6 an hour what will happen to the cost of the burger and fries? This all happened pre silly Trump tariff wars.

Geno will chime in that ‘good for those workers’. And I’ll say when you buy that expensive milk ‘you get the days you voted for’. And thats a Democrat platform.