Budget experts predict no Social Security cost-of-living increases for 3 years

Sure, inflation is going to be so low that no increase in Social Security benefits will be coming your way Grandma. The government will be cooking the CPI figures even more than usual when inflation hits the fan. Our country's seniors are going to pay the price dearly. A whole generation (the greatest) will become impoverished if a nasty inflation takes hold, and it will.-Lou

Budget experts predict no Social Security cost-of-living increases for 3 years

WASHINGTON (AP) — The recession is projected to wipe out annual cost-of-living increases for 50 million Social Security beneficiaries for the next three years, something that hasn't happened since automatic adjustments were adopted in 1975.

The Congressional Budget Office says in its latest budget estimates that inflation will dip so low that Social Security recipients will not qualify for annual increases in 2010, or for two years after that. In 2013 through 2019 — when projections are less reliable — CBO estimates annual increases of 2 percent each year, which would be among the lowest.

David Certner, director of legislative policy for the AARP, said many recipients rely on those increases to help pay for rising health care costs, which tend to outpace inflation. Many older Americans have also seen the values of their homes and savings decrease because of the nation's financial crisis."They are going to feel like they are falling behind," Certner said.

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