Reply #24: Important Corrections to your info from an SSD recipient but I agree it's [View All]

not easy to live off of SS and certainly more help is needed for many. For those with low enough incomes there's Social Services to help a bit such as HEAP (heating assistance), Food Stamps, Medicaid and Housing Assistance. Many SSD recipients are just over the line to receive any of that help however or they own their own house or a newer car which some programs consider an asset so you won't qualify.

Please understand that not all SS recipients are the same as your friends. :-) There are different types of Social Security benefits. There is that which is for seniors, that which is for those born with a disabilty and those who become disabled later in life after having worked. To my knowledge the benefit a person loses when they marry is a previous spouses or SSI which is income based. I have a friend who was born blind and has received SS all of her life. When she married I don't know how but she continued to receive benefits from SS but her husband may have also have had a low income.

As a divorced mother of 2 in '89 I became disabled with MS at the age of 29... I was lucky enough to have the top neurologist write up my info for SS and won my case the first time through. Since I had chose to stay home much of the time when my children while I was married and had not earned very many "work credits" my benefits were very low (I also received SSI, a part of SS, to help a bit but that was low as well). As the chart shown shows lower benefits then men are common for women and I believe our staying home with the kids influences this factor quite a bit although not souly. In '93 I remarried to a man with a healthy income and yet I still received MY SS benefits (as well as the SS benefits for my under 18 yr old daughters) although I did lose my SSI benefits since that is household income based. After a few years my husband was badly injured at work and this combined with having degenerative bone disease and chronic and severe pain incapacitetd him from working. After years of fighting he finally won SSD so we are BOTH on it and receiving benefits under our own work history. Although he made a healthy income and worked for 20+ yrs his benefits the only way we make $1800. a month from SSD is by combining my pitance with his (and that will be as of the Cost of living 4% increase and with the higher medicare cost taken out) which takes place as of Jan. '06. My husband and I are not opting in for the prescription plan for a number of reasons so that is not taken out of our monthly benefit.

According to the SSA site the COLA is based on Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the third quarter of one year to the third quarter of the next. From the gov's DOL site HERE is what is included in the CPI (bolding mine):
7. What goods and services does the CPI cover?

The CPI represents all goods and services purchased for consumption by the reference population (U or W) BLS has classified all expenditure items into more than 200 categories, arranged into eight major groups. Major groups and examples of categories in each are as follows:

* FOOD AND BEVERAGES (breakfast cereal, milk, coffee, chicken, wine, service meals and snacks)
* HOUSING (rent of primary residence, owners' equivalent rent, fuel oil, bedroom furniture)
* APPAREL (men's shirts and sweaters, women's dresses, jewelry)
* TRANSPORTATION (new vehicles, airline fares, gasoline, motor vehicle insurance)
* MEDICAL CARE (prescription drugs and medical supplies, physicians' services, eyeglasses and eye care, hospital services)
* RECREATION (televisions, pets and pet products, sports equipment, admissions);
* EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION (college tuition, postage, telephone services, computer software and accessories);
* OTHER GOODS AND SERVICES (tobacco and smoking products, haircuts and other personal services, funeral expenses).

Also included within these major groups are various government-charged user fees, such as water and sewerage charges, auto registration fees, and vehicle tolls. In addition, the CPI includes taxes (such as sales and excise taxes) that are directly associated with the prices of specific goods and services. However, the CPI excludes taxes (such as income and Social Security taxes) not directly associated with the purchase of consumer goods and services.

Personally I'd like to see the COLA increases done more then just once a year. It would be more helpful if it were reviewed quarterly so we're not stuck struggling to just get by at hte end of the year. This year with the home heating prices/gasoline/food costs having zoomed up so much it's been much more difficult then usual.