|
VA Watchdog Stuff...
cups, hats, shirts...
click on item to order
and support the site.
Be sure to get all four
VA Watchdog dot Org
RSS feeds --
Daily VA
News Flashes
House CVA
Veterans' News
Senate CVA
Veterans' News
VA Press
Releases
Download your
free copy of the
2008 VA benefits
handbook here...
|
Printer-Friendly Version
LATEST COLA FIGURE IS GOOD NEWS FOR DISABLED
VETERANS -- 2009 COLA estimate jumps to 6.2%,
although
final figure is two months away and may be lower
or higher.
NOTE: In a story posted earlier this month,
2009 COLA was listed at 2.8%. That was dated information provided by
Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans'
Affairs. The following is the latest information. It should be
noted that veterans' disability COLA is tied to the calculations shown.
Story here...
http://www.federalnewsrad
io.com/index.php?nid=22&sid=1459846
Story below:
-------------------------
COLA Cup Runneth Over
by Mike Causey
Bad news, good news and bad news on the inflation front.
The first bad news item is this: Inflation jumped 0.5 percent for the
month of July. The higher cost of living is primarily the result of the
ripple effect (on food and other items) because of the high price of oil.
The good news is that federal and postal retirees under the old CSRS
retirement system, retired military people and folks who get Social
Security payments are now due a January, 2009 cost of living adjustment
(COLA) of 6.2 percent. Last month the 2008 COLA had hit the 5.7 percent
level.
 The
second round of bad news involves retired Americans who don't get a
federal or military retirement benefit. Most of them don't qualify for any
kind of pension from their former employer. Of those that do get a
pension, the rise in living costs has no effect on that benefit. The
overwhelming majority of those pensions were frozen at the time of
retirement.
So just how much will the January federal-military-Social Security COLA
be? The answer is - it depends. It depends on how much living costs rise
(or not) this month and again in September. The COLA is based on the
change in the Consumer Price Index from the third quarter of the current
year (2008) over the CPI level for the third quarter of the previous year.
In this case 2007.
That means if the CPI holds steady for August and September the COLA
payment will be 6.2 percent. If the CPI goes up either or both months the
COLA will increase accordingly.
If the CPI should decline (don't hold your breath) the COLA will be
adjusted according. Meaning it could, in theory, be less than 6.2 percent.
But there would still be an increase.
If you would like to run the numbers for yourself, check out this
explanation from the National Active and Retired Federal Employees
website. It also gives the projected COLA increase for employees retired
under the FECA program.
http://www.narfe.org/departments/leg/guest/articles.cfm?ID=942
-----
And, more here...
http://www.moaa.org/controller2.aspx?pagen
ame=lac_issues_major_retired_cola
-------------------------
posted by Larry
Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
Don't forget to read all of today's VA
News Flashes (click here)
Click here to make VA Watchdog dot Org your homepage
email Larry
(go
back to VA Watchdog dot Org Home Page) |
Military
Medical Malpractice
Legal
Network
VA Watchdog Stuff...
cups, hats, shirts...
click on item to order
and support the site.
|
