No Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Social Security recipients for the first time in 35 years

Courtesy of Chris Orestis

Another sign of things to come for seniors in the 21st Century: for the first time since the darkest days of the economic crisis of the 1970’s, seniors will not see a cost of living increase in their Social Security checks. Combine this new development with proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid and the trend for seniors is becoming clearer every day. The realities of a global economic recession intersecting with explosive growth in the senior populations will create increasing pressures for the United States. More people needing help (money), with less resources to go around (money), equals hard choices about how to help those who need it most (money).

Increasing emphasis on the individual to shoulder more of the costs of their senior years will grow quickly. Moves to cut COLA’s, raise the minimum age for Medicare and cut Medicaid funding in the states will become more common occurrences. The Baby Boom generation is still in the early stages of moving into their retirement years and the amount of money required to support these programs is already overwhelming.

As economic and demographic trends over the coming years continues to challenge the governments ability to keep pace, seniors and their families must do all they can to prepare themselves financially for the costs of retirement and the even greater costs of long term healthcare.

Chris Orestis, president and a principal with Life Care Funding Group, is an acknowledged national expert on insurance and long term care issues. His Blog on senior living issues has become one of the more popular forums on the internet about the impact of the economy and politics on seniors and their housing and long term care needs. Learn more about senior funding alternatives and life settlements on the Life Care Funding Group web site.