South Carolina Social Security Lawyers
Social Security benefits are expected to increase by 3.6 percent next year, the first increase since 2009 for the one in five Americans who rely on government disability programs and retirement.
The increased benefits will help more than 60 million people who have seen their retirement accounts decrease, home values drop and out-of-pocket medical costs rise in the years since their last raise.
MSNBC reported, starting in January 2012, 55 million Social Security recipients will get increases averaging $39 a month, or just over $467 for the year. In December, more than 8 million people who receive Supplemental Security Income, the disability program for the poor, will get increases averaging $18 a month, or about $216 for the year.
Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare said Although it does not sound like much, “For millions of American seniors already suffering in this economy and facing years of rising costs, shrinking returns on their savings and no cost-of-living increases, today’s COLA announcement lets them know there’s some relief around the corner.”
AARP Executive Vice President Nancy LeaMond stated the increase in benefits “underscores the importance of Social Security as the only guaranteed, lifelong and inflation-adjusted source of retirement income for most Americans.”
Click here to see if you qualify for disability.
Economists say increased Social Security payments should provide a realistic significant boost to consumer spending next year, which will help the economy. President Barack Obama is pushing for stronger measures, but he has not been successful getting Congress to agree.
The Social Security agency announced on Monday, the program will pay out $727 billion in benefits to retirees, disabled people, surviving spouses and children, Monthly Social Security payments average $1,082, or about $13,000 a year.
By: South Carolina Social Security Lawyer Pete Strom
