Three Tips to Combat Inflation

From the gas station to the grocery store, prices are going up by leaps and bounds. The cost of consumer goods shot up five percent in May compared to last year and the pandemic is partly to blame. Now, with life starting to get back to normal, people are out and about shopping, dining, and traveling once again. As the Motley Fool’s The Ascent points out, while the economy is improving, it’s also creating a financial hardship for many Americans.

With consumer prices continuing to climb, seniors relying on Social Security are struggling to make ends meet. The Ascent offers these three tips to help you stretch your dollar:

1. Adjust your budget – Our cost of living has changed. You may need to adjust your budget to account for higher prices for food and fuel. Now may be the time to make cuts somewhere else.
2. Shop smart – It’s wise to comparison shop to make sure you are saving wherever you can. Consider using an app like GasBuddy to find the cheapest fill-ups in your area and looking through supermarket ads for sales and stocking up on staple items.
3. Cash in with credit cards – Be sure to take advantage of cash back offers with your credit card. Rewards cards can help you recoup some of the higher costs we are facing today.

Balancing Act

Seniors may be struggling now, but hope may be on the horizon. Based on the latest Consumer Price Index report, the annual cost of living (COLA) for Social Security benefits could be over five percent for next year – that’s the highest level since 2009 according to Think Advisor. The actual COLA won’t be announced until October, but all indications are the current increasing inflation rate will result in a super-sized serving of COLA. That’s welcome news considering this year’s COLA was only 1.3% — barely enough to make a difference.

COLA Counts

The fact of the matter is, the Social Security COLA is simply not high enough to keep up with the rising costs retirees face in their daily lives – even when inflation is not a concern. The Seniors Trust is working to right that wrong. We’re calling on Congress pass the Social Security Expansion Act. This important piece of legislation would establish a fair COLA that is tied to the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) instead of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners (CPI-W) used currently. The CPI-E takes the unique spending habits of seniors into account — particularly regarding the high cost of healthcare — and offers a more realistic COLA for retirees.

In addition to serving a bigger COLA, the Social Security Expansion Act would also provide bigger monthly benefits – about $65 more each month on average – and guarantee the long-term solvency of our country’s Social Security program.