The letters finally came, the way they have every year since we retired. We can now begin to budget for next year.
It ain’t looking pretty.
The Social Security Administration letter first announced our COLA, or cost of living increase, for our monthly Social Security payment. It’s a whopping 2.8 %. It could be good news if that were the end of the story. It might be just fine if either of us had worked for executive wages for a chunk of our lives. Instead we put in the labor and made the income do “well enough” by being thrifty and keeping our expectations low for our lifestyles all those years. We never had to miss meals but we also didn’t go out to restaurants for surf-n-turf and bar drinks plus a show. There were family members who helped out occasionally so nobody went homeless, but mobile homes and efficiency apartments were well known to us. So were libraries and regular TVs, mending worn clothing, planting small bushes and waiting for them to produce fruits after a few years.There were also those years postponing medical needs for lack of insurance.
We know some of you out there made more, saved more, invested more, traveled more. 2.8% of a lot more is a bigger increase. You’re likely seeing an actual increase in your Social Security checks next year. And good for you, if that’s where you are at.
But Medicare comes off the top of that increase before we see a penny in our bank accounts. It’s a bigger chunk next year too. As a result, every month’s check for me next year will be smaller by $70.00, give or take a couple coins. It’s the first year it has effectively dropped when hitting the bank. Lot rent is going up, not by much but it brings spending money down some more each month , and food will dig a deeper hole, insurance will kick in more… well, you get the picture. Hubby’s SS checks are dropping as well even with his slightly different math.
We should still be OK next year, barring unforseen needed repairs. The belts can tighten a little more. But options are narrowing, life gets smaller. Part of what hurts more is having to limit how much we can financially help the next generation when they struggle. The ”Bank of Dad” or ”Bank of Grandma” will have to close.
How’s next year looking for you? Do you have to give things up? Or do you expect smooth sailing on your SS allowance?
