Social Security

I was reading an article in the WSJ yesterday which reported that there is a small increase in social security payments for next year, based on an inflation-adjusted index. The increase is something around 2%. Some 'experts' are saying that the increase is going to be completely offset by the rise in Medicare premiums, which are going to be around $75/month for Medicare Part B (doctor visits).

What I found interesting, for no particular reason, is that the average monthly social security payment is $1575 per person. For all the talk about social security, I had never really known how much each person received each month from the program. I am assuming that this is before taxes. It's not a large sum, but not exactly a small sum either. For those that have supplemental retirement income (i.e. IRA, 401k, etc.), it would be a nice 'bonus' payment. However, for those that have to live off of it entirely, it could be a challenge.

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