HURRICANE KATRINA DISCUSSION

[mick]

for those on social security...

Social Security payments will rise 3.3% in 2007, less than this year
Posted 10/18/2006 8:47 AM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Subscribe to stories like this



By Martin Crutsinger, Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Social Security checks for nearly 49 million Americans are going up 3.3% in 2007, a smaller percentage than this year, the government announced Wednesday.
The cost of living adjustment will translate into an average monthly increase of $33 for the typical retired worker, pushing the average monthly benefit from $1,011 currently to $1,044.

The cost of living adjustment (COLA) announced Wednesday by the Social Security Administration will go to more than 53 million people. Nearly 49 million receive Social Security benefits and the rest Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments aimed at the poor and disabled.

The average retired couple, both receiving Social Security benefits, will see their monthly check go from $1,658 to $1,713.

The standard SSI payment will go from $603 a month for an individual to $623, and from $904 to $934 for a couple.

The average monthly check for a disabled worker will go from $947 to $979.

The government also announced Wednesday that 11 million taxpayers will pay higher taxes next year because the maximum amount of Social Security earnings subject to the payroll tax will rise from $94,200 to $97,500. In all, an estimated 163 million workers will pay Social Security taxes in 2007.

The 3.3% increase for 2007 compares with a 4.1% rise in monthly benefits for 2006, which had been the biggest increase in 15 years. Starting in 1975, benefit payments have been adjusted each year to keep up with inflation.

The COLA amount is based on the rise in the consumer price index in the July-September quarter this year compared with the same quarter in 2005. The Labor Department announced Wednesday that consumer prices fell 0.5% in September, reflecting a big drop in energy prices.

While energy prices jumped sharply at the beginning of the year, because of rising Mideast tensions, they have recently retreated to a level where they are little changed from this time a year ago, when prices surged after Hurricane Katrina knocked out oil production along the Gulf Coast.