Thanks to a slight drop in living costs last month (believe it or not) federal, military and Social Security retirees are on track for a 6.0 percent cost of living adjustment in January, 2009.
Last month the COLA, which is based on the rise (and sometimes fall) of the Consumer Price Index, indicated a 6.2 percent retiree increase for 2009.
COLAs, by law, are based on the rise in living costs as measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics from the current third quarter of the year (July, August, September) over the CPI for the third quarter for the previous year. Whew!!!
That means there is one more month to go (September) in the COLA countdown. That figure will be announced in mid-October and that final figure will determine the January, 2009 raise for the retirees. Military retirees and people of get Social Security benefits will get the full to-be-determined COLA. Feds retired under the old Civil Service Retirement System will also get the full COLA.
Persons retired under the newer Federal Employees Retirement System will, if they are 62 or older, get a diet-COLA that will be one percentage point less than the full COLA. While that irks many FERS participants they are still better off than 99 percent of nonfederal retirees who either don’t have any pension plan or, if they do, think a cola is something you drink. Not get.
CPI Data
If you like math, are curious about the CPI or are simply a glutton for punishment, there are places you can go to get explanations of the CPI, plus the latest information on how the August numbers were arrived at. If that’s the case you can click here for a Q & A on the CPI.
If that’s the case, you can click here to get the official explanation of the COLA to members of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees. For that update click here.
To checkout the official Bureau of Labor Statistics data on the CPI, showing which portions of the market basket increased and those where prices dropped, click here. But remember, you were warned!
Nearly Useless Factoid
According to a 2001 survey, 31% of all employees skip lunch.
To reach me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com
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