COLA
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When it comes to those annual cost-of-living adjustments, a growing number of federal workers and retirees actually get diet COLAs each January. And that would get worse -- and extend to all retirees under a White House plan that has strong congressional backing, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
May 28, 2013 -
Federal, military and Social Security retirees get a cost-of-living adjustment like clockwork each and every year, even during years when federal workers do not get pay raises. But the 2014 cost-of-living adjustment for retirees is up in the air and on attack on two very different fronts, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
May 21, 2013 -
Senior Correspondent Mike Causey wants to know: If I chopped a couple of bucks off each of the future cost-of-living adjustments made to your federal retirement or Social Security benefits would you even notice? Or, would you pick up the fact that over time that is a lot of money that you will never see.
April 24, 2013 -
Federal, military and Social Security retirees would receive smaller benefits in the future if the government switches to a new yardstick to measure inflation. How much would it cost you? Maybe more than you think, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
April 17, 2013 -
President Barack Obama's proposal to change the way retirees' cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) are calculated has drawn the ire of federal-employee groups and unions. The National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) has released a calculator designed to show retirees and policymakers how benefits would be reduced if the chained CPI were implemented.
April 16, 2013 -
President Barack Obama wants to make federal service cool again. But his budget proposals, which would reduce future retirement benefits and force feds to pay more for them, has a lot of current civil servants hot under the collar, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey.
April 12, 2013 -
Federal employees would see a slight pay bump next year under President Barack Obama's proposed budget for 2014. But at the same time, the White House budget outline proposes sweeping changes to federal employees' retirement benefits, including reductions to annual cost-of-living increases for retirees.
April 10, 2013 -
If Congress and the White House change the yardstick used to measure inflation, will retirees barely notice or will they have to go on a diet of Hamburger Helper and Ramen Noodles? Check out Senior Correspondent Mike Causey's column for more.
December 20, 2012 -
In the fiscal-cliff talks, it now appears that both sides have blinked. Republicans appear willing to accept some higher taxes and Democrats seem to have agreed that Social Security's growing costs must be curtailed. Slightly and slowly. So how will the proposals affect you? Check out Senior Correspondent Mike Causey's column.
December 19, 2012 -
In the latest proposals traded back and forth between the White House and Boehner, the President proposed changing the formula the Labor Department uses to measure inflation — which would reduce annual COLAs for Social Security beneficiaries, including federal and military retirees. Federal-employee unions and groups remain worried the COLA proposals are still very much on the table.
December 18, 2012 -
If you could pick any historical event to relive, it probably wouldn't be the maiden voyage of the Titanic — that didn't go well. And now, 100 years later, federal, military and Social Security retirees are just becoming aware of a political iceberg that could punch a hole in their future benefits, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
December 17, 2012 -
Federal-employee groups and veterans organizations say a legislative proposal that would result in lower cost-of-living adjustments for federal and Social Security retirees is a non-starter. Moving to a "Chained" Consumer Price Index method of calculating inflation would curtail future benefits for Social Security retirees, including federal employees and veterans, opponents of the proposal say.
November 09, 2012 -
The 1.7 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits that more than 56 million Social Security beneficiaries, according to the Social Security Administration. Social Security recipients received a 3.6 percent increase in benefits this year after getting none the previous two years.
October 16, 2012 -
Federal, postal and military retirees are about to get an inflation-adjustment. That's the good news. The bad news is that it will be a diet- version and, for most, leave a very bitter aftertaste, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
October 16, 2012 -
Two years into a three-year pay freeze, thousands of retirement-eligible feds are doing the math and concluding that maybe they would be better off retired and getting inflation adjustments rather than working at their 2010 salary rate, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. So what's in it for you?
October 03, 2012