COLA
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What's one area where federal retirees are financially better off than feds who are still working? If you said cost-of-living adjustments, you are a winner, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. The January COLA for retirees will be bigger than the planned pay raise for active-duty feds.
June 18, 2014 -
Could political gridlock save you up to $48,000 in retirement? It could if it blocks a politically explosive plan to trim future cost-of-living adjustments for retirees, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
February 21, 2014 -
Pentagon leaders expressed disappointment on Tuesday at the retiree cost of living cuts under the Ryan-Murray budget deal and urged Congress to repeal them. But officials also pressed lawmakers to wait for an independent study group's conclusions before making more piecemeal changes to the military compensation system.
January 29, 2014 -
On this week's Your Turn radio show, host Mike Causey examines what's in the most recent budget deal that will impact feds.
December 11, 2013 -
Newly hired federal workers will be required to contribute more toward their pensions and some military retirees will see smaller cost-of-living adjustments under a budget deal announced by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) Tuesday evening. The budget deal, which sets funding levels for the next two years, eases some of the bite of the automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration. The pact restores about $63 billion to agency spending through the end of fiscal 2015, split about evenly between Defense and civilian agencies.
December 11, 2013 -
When veterans and their families, who receive disability compensation and retirement benefits from the Veterans Affairs Department, receive their annual cost-of-living increase next month, for the first time ever, it won't be rounded down to the nearest dollar. Overall, the COLA for veterans benefits will increase 1.5 percent. Until this year, the COLA for veterans' benefits was rounded down to the nearest dollar. That will change with payments beginning in January.
December 04, 2013 -
Planning to retire soon to cash in on that 1.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment? Good plan, except for one problem, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. The good ship USS COLA has sailed!
November 18, 2013 -
Retirees will get a 1.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment next January, and white-collar feds are looking at a 1 percent raise. Not much but it could have been a lot worse, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
November 01, 2013 -
The Social Security Administration announced Wednesday morning that the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for 2014 will rise 1.5 percent.
October 30, 2013 -
When it comes to cost-of-living adjustments for retirees, bigger is always better, right? Or is it? Either way, some changes may be coming in the way the government tracks inflation, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says.
October 16, 2013 -
Preliminary figures suggest next year's benefit increase will be roughly 1.5 percent, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. The increase will be small because consumer prices, as measured by the government, haven't gone up much in the past year.
October 14, 2013 -
Millions of federal retirees will have to wait to find out the size of next year's cost-of-living adjustment. The Labor Department says it won't report inflation statistics on time this month, which will delay the Social Security Administration's COLA calculation.
October 11, 2013 -
Picture yourself floating in a deep, dark swamp, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. There doesn't appear to be any danger, except the pair of eyes watching you from the surface of the swamp. But what harm could they do? Ever hear of the federal version of the "Creature from the Black Lagoon?"
August 29, 2013 -
How can you tell the difference between a current government worker and a retired civil servant? One of them is smiling, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. Think about it, prices have gone up, taxes have gone up, health premiums have gone up -- but feds at the Pentagon, HUD, Interior and other agencies haven't had a raise in three years.
August 05, 2013 -
Feds who are already retired (and those who plan to retire someday soon) have several worries, Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says. For those about to take the plunge, the concern is the backlog of applications at the Office of Personnel Management. For those already on the roles the fear is that future benefit increases will be downsized each year.
May 31, 2013