Antonio Cirilo Perez Jr.’s Post

I posted this for Social Security increase. Parts apply for veterans. The current increase of 2.5% is basically a slap in the face to all retirees. It is in your face when food, energy and utilities are not calculated into the equation. It is always interesting the government always manages to control inflation in the 3rd quarter only to see it increase the 4th quarter and continue upward. Today's core CPI came out today at 2.4%. Inflation will now continue to increase. Expect mortgage rates to increase as well. The fact is that most retirees had they invested the money they were required to surrender to the government would have been financially better off then relying on the US government financial prowess and business acumen. The facts are that personal accounts are never open individually for the person forcibly investing his money with the US government. The plusses are that it comes with a long term disability and stable pension income. The negatives are that the money you invested allows the government to use at its whim while paying 2.9% for the use of your money. The negatives are that your invested funds will provide pensions for disabled children, widows who have never worked and widows collecting widows husband's pension that when their partner dies they inherit their full retirement pension. As a third rail of the US government, it is a hot potato that neither side of the aisle wishes to address. The day of reckoning is due within 10 years and everyone seems to be ignoring the issue. Congress must step up to the plate not only to rectify the future but provide increases for the cumulative inflation increases that have not been addressed.

In 2025, Social Security beneficiaries will receive a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), the smallest increase since 2021, due to a reduction in inflation following the COVID-19 pandemic. This adjustment will raise the average Social Security retirement benefit by $49 a month, with other benefits such as survivor and disability payments also increasing. Despite this, rising costs in healthcare, insurance, and Medicare premiums could offset these gains for many retirees. AARP emphasizes that while the COLA helps, more efforts are needed to strengthen Social Security’s long-term financial stability. Adapted from AARP article Social Security COLA Set at 2.5% for 2025 by Andy Markowitz

In 2025, Social Security beneficiaries will receive a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), the smallest increase since 2021, due to a reduction in inflation following the COVID-19 pandemic. This adjustment will raise the average Social Security retirement benefit by $49 a month, with other benefits such as survivor and disability payments also increasing. Despite this, rising costs in healthcare, insurance, and Medicare premiums could offset these gains for many retirees. AARP emphasizes that while the COLA helps, more efforts are needed to strengthen Social Security’s long-term financial stability. Adapted from AARP article Social Security COLA Set at 2.5% for 2025 by Andy Markowitz

The Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA) is once again lower than last month’s analysis writes Amanda Umpierrez in 401k Specialist Magazine. That’s according to Mary Johnson, retired Social Security and Medicare policy analyst, and the nonprofit senior citizens advocacy group The Seniors Citizen League (TSCL), who today each released their own COLA predictions based on the latest inflation figures announced this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). For September, both Johnson and TSCL forecast a 2.5% figure. Despite being Johnson’s lowest prediction since 2021, a 2.5% COLA would be considered about average, she adds. “The 2025 COLA will be the lowest received by Social Security beneficiaries since 2021, at the same time inflated prices persist on key essentials such as housing, meats, auto insurance, any type of service and repairs,” says Mary Johnson, an independent Social Security and Medicare policy analyst. https://lnkd.in/euTmaPdb #cola #socialsecurity #retirement #medicare

"Eleven years. That’s all that’s left until the combined Social Security accounts — the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Disability Insurance Trust Fund — are likely to run out of money and can no longer pay full scheduled benefits, according to the latest report of the Social Security trustees. "I don’t worry too much that the checks won’t go out after the projected 2035 exhaustion of the funds, which though legally separate are often regarded as a single pool of money. Current beneficiaries wouldn’t stand for it, and neither would their children. (Even with no fix at all — highly unlikely — incoming payroll taxes would cover 83 percent of scheduled benefits.) "I support benefit cuts, although not for everyone. Lower-income Americans should be spared. If anything, their benefits need to go up. People 55 and older should also be spared, since they’re either retired or close to it, so they can’t offset any reductions by working and saving more. "But upper-income Americans of working age are going to have to get used to the idea that Social Security will be less generous than they expected. They will need to stuff more money into their 401(k)s and maybe delay their retirement by a few years. "Biggs is actually optimistic. He argued in a recent essay for The Wall Street Journal that a vast majority of retirees are doing OK and it wouldn’t be expensive to put a safety net under those who aren’t. A Census Bureau report that drew on data about pension plans and other records found that the share of older people in poverty fell to 6.9 percent in 2012 from 9.7 percent in 1990, lower than the official poverty figures. "Only 3 percent of respondents who were 65 to 74 between 2019 and 2022 said they were “finding it difficult to get by,” and an additional 12 percent said they were “just getting by,” according to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Household Economics and Decision Making. The problem is concentrated, naturally, among those with the least savings. Among people of that age with less than $10,000 in savings, 12 percent said it was difficult to get by, and 30 percent said they were just getting by, Biggs calculated."   

The Election is Over- time to transform? I just finished reading Gene's interesting, thoughtful, scary book regarding fiscal sanity in a broken Congress. I've always thought the government would benefit by leveraging the best practices of businesses. 1. Transform the organization at a regular cadence to stimulate new ideas, introduce streamlined processes, and refresh performance metrics. 2. Start with a zero-based budget each year. New information, new efficiencies and an evolving environment might support a refresh of the original budget estimates. 3. Hold people accountable to deliver against their originally established performance metrics. 4. Focus on the short-term but build for the long-term. Sustainability is essential. We need better financial discipline (again, companies go out of business if they can't manage their financials) to remain a leading country. We are the United States of America. We can do better! Now that the election is over, let's create and deliver thoughtful solutions. Eugene Steuerle #USA #EffectiveGovernment #OurFuture #BusinessandGovernment #Economy #leadership

Lots of discussion surrounding the viability of social security. The following post from Susan Rupe in InsuranceNewsNet takes a deep dive into this discussion. She writes: A stronger economy is good news for the Social Security program. Increases in the projected level of labor productivity and employment, combined with a continued drop in worker disability led to the projected date of the Social Security trust fund’s depletion being moved back a bit – from April 2033 to November 2033. If the trust fund is depleted, retirees would still receive approximately 76% of their benefits. What’s behind the most recent annual report of the Social Security Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance Program’s trustees to Congress? Two actuaries from the Social Security Administration provided some answers during a recent webinar by the American Academy of Actuaries. The trustees have presented a report to Congress every year since 1941. This year’s report contains three main differences, said Stephen Goss, Social Security Administration chief actuary. Details of the report are here: https://lnkd.in/gVwra38U #socialsecurity #employeebenefits #hr #retirement

Women have been counting on Social Security to provide much-needed retirement income, disability and survivor benefits. Check out this article and learn four things women need to know about Social Security. https://bit.ly/4023O9n #socialsecurity #retirementplanning #finanicalplanning #tipsandtricks #women #blog #insights CRN202512-7585961

It was announced today that Social Security payments will increase 2.5% for 2025 Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments for more than 72.5 million Americans will increase 2.5 percent in 2025, the Social Security Administration announced today. On average, Social Security retirement benefits will increase by about $50 per month starting in January. Over the last decade the COLA increase has averaged about 2.6 percent. The COLA was 3.2 percent in 2024. Nearly 68 million Social Security beneficiaries will see a 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) beginning in January 2025. Increased payments to nearly 7.5 million people receiving SSI will begin on December 31, 2024. (Note: Some people receive both Social Security benefits and SSI). Some other adjustments that take effect in January of each year are based on the increase in average wages. Based on that increase, the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax (taxable maximum) is slated to increase to $176,100 from $168,600. Social Security begins notifying people about their new benefit amount by mail starting in early December. While better than nothing, it is very important to keep in mind that this anhis increase will hardly make a dent in the fight for many Americans to keep up with inflation in the United States today. Food, gas, energy and insurance costs have skyrocketed over the past several years and many are worse off financially than ever before. Looked at another way, the average increase of only $50 for the entire year works out to 96 cents a WEEK, or 13 cents a DAY more than their current benefit. This is hardly anything when you consider how difficult it is for nearly all of us to make ends meet today.

With many Americans deeply concerned about the future of Social Security, a recent Newsweek poll highlights significant public trust in Democrats to safeguard this vital program. Addressing this sentiment, USHBC’s CEO Javier Palomarez told Newsweek, “Democrats’ consistent positioning as defenders of Social Security benefits speaks directly to key concerns of those nearing or in retirement.” Palomarez points out that many Republican-led proposals have included benefit cuts or raising the retirement age, a direction that has left voters wary. As Social Security remains under strain, it’s crucial for policymakers to prioritize sustainable solutions that reassure Americans’ retirement security.  Newsweek  ✍️ Aliss Higham https://lnkd.in/eX5if8qG  #SocialSecurity #PolicyMatters #USHBC