For many seniors, the announcement of Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is one of the most anticipated pocketbook news stories of the year. The COLA for 2020 will be released during October - a time of year when I always check in with Mary Johnson.
Mary is a Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League. She has been tracking the COLA for more than 24 years, and conducts an annual study on the buying power of Social Security. Mary also writes the free Social Security & Medicare Advisor (subscribe at the League’s website).
Ahead of the 2020 COLA news, Mary joins me on the podcast this week to talk about all things COLA, including:
The history of the COLA (it has been awarded annually only since 1975)
How the COLA is figured, its recent COLAs, and why they have been stingy
What will the COLA be in 2020 (probably about 1.6%)
How the COLA interacts with the Medicare Part B premium
What seniors can do to protect themselves from inflation
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The podcast is part of the subscription RetirementRevised newsletter. Subscribers have access to all the podcasts, plus my series of retirement guides on key challenges in retirement. Each guide is paired with a podcast interview with an expert on the topic; the series already covers Social Security claiming and the transition to Medicare, and how to hire a financial planner. More are in the works. For a sample, check out the recently-published guide to the cost of healthcare in retirement, featuring a podcast interview with retirement educator and actuary Steve Vernon.
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