Social Security Benefits to Rise 5.8%
As seniors struggle with the soaring costs of everyday expenses and hefty hits to their retirement saving accounts, the Social Security Administration yesterday announced a 5.8 percent increase in income benefits, marking the largest cost-of-living adjustment since 1982.</br></br>The increase, which affects 55 million Americans, amounts to an extra $63 a month for the average recipient. Some retiree advocates and senior citizens, while welcoming the bump, worried it wasn't enough given even larger increases in other costs, such as health care.</br></br>"This will be very welcomed, but 6 percent is not much compared to everything else," said Elaine Destefano, a 72-year-old retiree volunteering yesterday at the Damascus Senior Center. She noted that certain Medicare premiums would rise more than 20 percent. "This is what happens: They gave us a raise, then they increase Medicare, and then you have nothing."</br></br>Shannon G. Benton, executive director of the Senior Citizens League, said, "It may take the edge off, but it's not going to lift the burden."</br></br>Retirees and advocacy groups such as Benton's organization and AARP have been pushing for higher cost-of-living increases for years. Last year's bump of 2.3 percent came on the heels of low inflation and was the smallest since 2004.