Cost of living adjustments, which millions of retirees get every January, are supposed to keep pace with inflation.

The automatic indexing means most people — those getting Social Security benefits, civil service annuities or military retired pay — expect bigger things in their January checks. And that’s true, up to a point …

But the cost of living countdown for the retirees this year has been a surprise. Not a happy one. Because each time the prospective (January 2015 COLA) is calculated, it keeps getting smaller. Not by much, but smaller, not bigger.

The retirees got a 1.5 percent COLA in January 2014. This year. That was based on the rise in living costs in 2013 as measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This year, the COLA countdown for 2015 started off pointing toward a 1.9 percent COLA in January. Not much (and not truly reflective of costs, according to many retirees) but better than nothing. Then the next monthly countdown knocked that prospective inflation-catchup for 2015 down to 1.8 percent. The three months that count in the COLA setting process are July, August and September.

The most recent CPI numbers for the month of August have put the tentative 2015 COLA at 1.6 percent. It could be higher, or lower, depending on the how the CPI for this month (September) comes out. That data will be released Oct. 22.

Lots of retirees simply don’t believe the numbers. They say that the measurements, for food, energy, new and used cars, medical care, shelter and transportation don’t reflect what they are paying.

At the same time, many federal workers don’t understand why they will be getting a 1 percent raise in January when retirees are looking at more. The reason: It’s the law. Workers get pay raises that are part political/part fiscal. Retirees get adjustments (not raises) that are based on inflation. For more on that, and the downward spiral in the 2015 COLA, click here.

NEARLY USELESS FACTOID:

By Michael O’Connell

Orangey the cat is the only feline to win the Patsy Award — the animal equivalent of the Oscar — twice. He picked up his first Patsy for the 1951 movie about a baseball team owning cat, “Rhubarb.” His second win came a decade later as a homeless cat in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” He had many roles over his 15-year movie and television career, including the cat who famously menaces the title character in “The Incredible Shrinking Man.”

Source: IMDB.

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