Greater Social Security Benefits in 2009
Social Security benefits for 50 million people are expected to go up next year by the largest amount in more than a quarter-century.
The new cost-of-living increase, to be announced Thursday by the Social Security Administration, is expected to be above 5.5 percent. That would make it the largest increase since a 7.4 percent jump in 1982. The increase for 2008 was 2.3 percent.
A 5.5 percent increase would mean about $60 a month more for the average retiree. Even with the gain, the fatter Social Security check still may seem puny to millions of retirees battered this year by huge increases in energy and food costs. They’ve also watched helplessly as their retirement savings have been assaulted by the biggest upheavals on Wall Street in seven decades.
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Filed Under: Retirement
