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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Everything you always wanted to know about the Social Security COLA, but were afraid to ask