In the wake of the recession, many families struggled to keep up with rising costs and shrinking pocket books. For those who were receiving Social Security benefits at the time, any additional income was certainly welcomed though it was few and far between.
But just last month, people receiving Social Security and Supplemental Security Income received the good news that they had been waiting to hear for several years now. According to an announcement made by the Social Security Administration, people receiving benefits from these two programs-nearly 62 million Americans at present count-will see an increase by 1.7 percent in 2013.
It appears that the agency is finally increasing benefits to adjust for the rise in the cost of living over the past few years. The agency says that more than eight million SSI beneficiaries will begin to see increases in their benefits at the end of December of this year.
Of course this good news is not without its bad as the agency pointed out in early October. In order to sustain many Social Security programs, the government is raising the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax from $110,100 to $113,700. Though this will not affect a beneficiary’s wages, it will place nearly 10 million workers in a higher tax bracket causing them to pay higher taxes on their income.
Though the average American, who will likely see their wages decrease because of the increase in benefits, is probably bitter about the change, the SSA stresses that this is a necessary measure to make sure the system does not run out of money in the predicted 20 year time frame it presently has.
Source: The Social Security Administration, “Social Security Announces 1.7 Percent Benefit Increase for 2013,” Press Release, Oct. 16, 2012
Tags: increase in benefits, Social Security Administration, Supplemental Security Income
