What is that message? Simply that if you want a financially secure retirement you need a plan to supplement Social Security and to cope with inflation which in most cases means you must take from today to give to tomorrow – from the very first day you enter the workforce.
Social Security COLAs are not intended to keep up with your lifestyle inflation because Social Security was never intended to be your sole retirement income.
Will a 3.2% Increase Be Enough to Maintain Quality of Life?
This year’s COLA could be helpful. However, a recent poll 😩from the Senior Citizen’s League, an advocacy group, found that 68% of survey participants report that their household expenses remain at least 10% higher than one year ago, although the overall inflation rate has slowed.
And, while last year’s bump was big, year after year of small increases has a cumulative effect. In fact, each inadequate increase impacts a retiree’s income for the rest of their lives.
And, because of the way COLA is calculated (see below), previous increases did not keep pace with the increasing costs of Medicare and other retiree costs.
Research in 2022 from Mary Johnson, an analyst at the Senior Citizens League, found that, “Over the past 21 years, COLAs have raised Social Security benefits by 55 percent but housing costs rose nearly 118 percent and healthcare costs rose 145 percent over the same period.”
NewRetirement.com
😩 Worry that retirement income won’t be enough to cover the cost of essentials in the coming months is a top concern of 56 percent of survey respondents. Social Security benefit cuts are an even bigger concern, ranked as the number one worry by nearly 6 out of 10 survey participants (59 percent). Over the past year, benefit cuts (not Social Security) and trims have affected a large percentage of older Americans who can least afford them — low- income households.
Senior Citizen League poll
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
Some People dream about their eventual retirement without thinking about the financial details to support retirement. The path of least resistance is assuming Social Security will cover expenses. After all, the words “social security” implies just that.
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I don’t believe people can imagine what retirement income will be like until they get there and then it’s too late. Certainly most people can’t grasp the idea of small annual increases on a small base will not be enough in the long run.
The recent benefit cuts mentioned in the article must have gone by me. I can’t think of any.
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