u.s. social security cola letter

[rodknock]

has any one received a social security letter about cola for 2017?

they usually send some sort of statement, but have not seen one this year.

[ubonjoe]

I have not gotten mine yet either. But I do know it will only be .3% more.

[Pib]

Now I just started social security....first payment this coming Jan 3 but I haven't got the COLA letter yet but I did get my initial Awards letter.

 

However, I can look at my online account and printout a Benefits Verification Letter which shows your new benefit amount, medicare premium, etc.   And that letter will be dated with today's date.  In fact, I just looked at my latest Benefits Letter and it shows the new amount with COLA, the new Medicare Part B premium, etc.

 

 An online account comes in real handy for various things dealing with Social Security....get the info right now versus waiting on snail mail.  More info at below weblink

 

https://socialsecurityinfo.areavoices.com/2016/12/09/keep-those-cola-letters/

[WaywardWind]

Received mine today - $4 increase...heh

[tutsiwarrior]

2 hours ago, WaywardWind said:

Received mine today - $4 increase...heh

 

enough fer a pack of camels....

[Boon Mee]

18 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

I have not gotten mine yet either. But I do know it will only be .3% more.

Haven't received mine either but any increase is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. 

[willyumcr]

Received mine yesterday. Got $6 increase but off set by $6 increase in medicare. So........same amount as before.

[Pib]

Yea, with the standard 2017 Medicare Part B premium increasing to $134 from the 2016 standard premium of $121.80 (and many paying even less due to the "hold harmless" rule), anyone paying Part B will see most/all of their SS pension COLA increase offset by the Medicare premium increase.   As willyumcr said, same pension amount as before "arriving your bank account."    

 

But hey, at least the SS pension does include COLA (most years) and hold harmless provisions....many govt and private pensions don't have such provisions. 

[Boon Mee]

Not much point in paying the Medicare Part B if one lives here in LOS and does not intend to return to the States.

[taxout]

Not much point in paying the Medicare Part B if one lives here in LOS and does not intend to return to the States.

We've all got our own point of view on this, but myself I view Part B as pretty cheap insurance against something really bad happening, when I might want care in the U.S. Further, even a two-week vacation in the U.S. can involve some risk without Part B coverage, especially as you get older.

And yes, having an online SS account would be nice. Shame they're not available to those without a U.S. address.

[Gary A]

I did send an email to the Social Security agency asking about part B. I appreciated a reply from a lady who told me that if I intended to stay in Thailand. which I do, that I would be throwing that money away.

[taxout]

What matters isn't whether you intend to stay overseas forever, but whether you actually do so. You have to be brave in a certain way to be that confident of the future.

[Pib]

6 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Not much point in paying the Medicare Part B if one lives here in LOS and does not intend to return to the States.

Not true if you are a military retiree....and there are a lot of military retirees in Thailand.  

 

Up until you turn 65 you are covered "worldwide" under the military Tricare Standard medical plan which basically provides medical coverage "anywhere in the world, in Thailand, on the moon, just anywhere you live."  Basically your are reimbursed 75% and for a few things 100%.   This Tricare coverage ends during the month you turn 65 "unless you enroll in Medicare Part B" coverage and then your Tricare coverage continues on until the end of your days.  

 

Now, although you are paying for Part B coverage to retain your Tricare coverage you will not receive any coverage for Medicare outside the U.S.; however, as mentioned you are covered by Tricare because you are paying Part B premiums.   And the millisecond you set foot back on U.S. soil the Medicare coverage immediately kicks-in (no sign-up req'd as you are already enrolled) as your primary coverage which basically provides 80% reimbursement and also Tricare which picks up the remaining 20%...in this case Tricare acts as supplemental coverage while in the U.S.....when the dust settles you are covered at 100%.

 

If you are a military retiree paying Medicare Part B coverage provides you medical coverage at 75% reimbursement when outside the U.S. under Tricare and when you are in the States your medical coverage is 100% split between Medicare and Tricare.   But if you don't enroll in Part B when turning 65 you have zero coverage anywhere in the world from Medicare or Tricare...you are on your own to pay your own medical bills.

 

 

Edited December 21, 2016 by Pib

[Boon Mee]

1 hour ago, Gary A said:

I did send an email to the Social Security agency asking about part B. I appreciated a reply from a lady who told me that if I intended to stay in Thailand. which I do, that I would be throwing that money away.

Which is the final answer...

[JimGant]

Quote

If you are a military retiree paying Medicare Part B coverage provides you medical coverage at 75% reimbursement when outside the U.S. under Tricare

 

And this after only paying $150 deductible per each insured (me and wife). Then, the catastrophic cap per insured is only $3000 (after which not 75%, but 100% reimbursement). These numbers have been the same for two decades, in spite of Congressional efforts to raise them. However, after the Walter Reed fiasco with our legless warriors (hideous care by support staff), Congress has been loath to touch military medical costs. Great deal for us retired regulars of the Vietnam era -- and retired reservists too. But, afraid those younger retirees will finally feel the snap back from Congress, most of whom have never seen a uniform.

Edited December 22, 2016 by JimGant

[Pib]

1 hour ago, JimGant said:

 

And this after only paying $150 deductible per each insured (me and wife). Then, the catastrophic cap per insured is only $3000 (after which not 75%, but 100% reimbursement). These numbers have been the same for two decades, in spite of Congressional efforts to raise them. However, after the Walter Reed fiasco with our legless warriors (hideous care by support staff), Congress has been loath to touch military medical costs. Great deal for us retired regulars of the Vietnam era -- and retired reservists too. But, afraid those younger retirees will finally feel the snap back from Congress, most of whom have never seen a uniform.

Yeap....DoD/the Administration t(he Prez) keeps asking for Tricare fees increases each year in their budget request (with full support of the individual military branches).  If Congress hadn't been rejecting or softening those fee increase requests Tricare fees would be a lot higher. 

 

A lot of it is a budget game....DoD/the Administration wants to increase fees to lower their medical bedget so those savings could be redirected to buy more weapons/equipment.   But they know that so far Congress has been holding down/rejecting the fee increases and instead giving DoD extra money or authority to move money around to buy the addition weapons/equipment.  

 

The DoD bean counters are no longer a friend of retirees no matter what the DoD generals, SESs, and political appointees may say..

[ubonjoe]

Got mine a today. A bit more than the .3% calculation since they rounded it up. First time that has happened.

[Pib]

3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Got mine a today. A bit more than the .3% calculation since they rounded it up. First time that has happened.

They don't round up...they apply the COLA and then round down to the nearest dime.   Must have been something else causing the rounding change.

 

For example this Social Security webpage is using the 0.3% COLA example...in this example the full new COLA amount would be $1448.83 but they round down to the nearest dime which makes it $1448.80....then they continue with other rounding down to the next dollar.  

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/colaapplic.html

Partial quote below

Quote

Example
If the initial PIA is $1,444.50 and it is increased by a 0.3-percent COLA, the new PIA would be $1,448.80 after truncation to the next lower dime.

 

 

I also get a U.S. govt civil service FERS retirement pension and under FERS they rounding rule is different that Social Security...they applied the 0.3% COLA and then round down to the nearest dollars.  So say your new COLA adjusted FERS pension before rounding worked out to be $199.99 cents they then round down to $199.00.  And with small COLA increases like 0.3% that effectively lowers that COLA percentage by a good amount.    And FERS has other rounding down rules for COLA increase greater than 2%. The rounding rule can really impact small COLA increases...the fine print of how some pension "round" after applying the basic COLA....but the U.S. govt likes the rounding down rule in most of its various pension plans.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2016 by Pib

[ubonjoe]

46 minutes ago, Pib said:

They don't round up...they apply the COLA and then round down to the nearest dime.   Must have been something else causing the rounding change.

I have not seen the amount of my SS payment in dollars and cents since I first applied for it. It is sent to me in dollars with no cents shown  and the amount on the cola letters are the same.

From the page you posted a link to.

 

Quote

Steps leading from the PIA to the benefit amount

1. A factor is applied to the PIA to account for early or delayed retirement, with the result truncated to the next lower dime
2. Any offset to the benefit, such as payment of the Medicare Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) premium, is subtracted
3. Finally, the resulting amount is truncated to the next lower dollar

 

Summary
When a COLA occurs, we increase the PIA as described above, and we repeat the steps required to calculate the new benefit amount based on the new, higher PIA. Due to the rounding, possible offsets, and final truncation in these steps, the increase in the new monthly benefit amount over the previous amount may differ somewhat from the COLA.

 

I assume there was some other factor that came into play that caused it to be higher than the calculated number.

[Pib]

Maybe it because you are basing/starting your calculation on the rounded down to the nearest dollar amount.   That is, starting with this year's payment amount (the even dollar amount) and then applying the COLA.

 

But the SSA uses the exact amount our you PIA which most likely includes some cents also, applies the COLA, then rounds down to the nearest dime and then rounds down to the next dollars.  This is how the weblink shows the COLA calculation method.

 

Using the two different methods mentioned above could result in different final payment amounts since one method will not include any partial dollar amount in the calculation and the other way (the SSA way) will.

[ubonjoe]

I don't know why it is higher than I expected. Since .3% of a dollar is only .0003 no calculation I can use makes a difference.

I think it has to have something to do with what is in #1 in the SSA info I posted in my earlier post. I started at the age of 62.

Maybe they added in the rounding down from previous years. Not likely but a thought.

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Got my annual SocSec letter today, a whooping $1.00 increase, just enough for two small Singhas at Lotus.

 

Mac

[Pib]

Got my annual SocSec letter today, a whooping $1.00 increase, just enough for two small Singhas at Lotus.
 
Mac

They sell Singha at around B18 per small bottle?

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Ah, you're right, I was thinking of baht 100 for some odd reason, or thinking back to 1976 or so.

 

Mac

[Pib]

Well, if you had confirmed "your nearby Lotus" was selling small bottle of beer for Bt18, I was going to move to where ever you live.     Happy Holidays.

[JimGant]

We just got our SS benefit info for 2017, and for the first time in several years, it's rounded to an even dollar amount -- not an amount ending in 90 cents (gross, before Medicare premium deduction). Both our new amounts, when the Cola .03% is applied, result in amounts with decimal endings greater than 50 cents. However, one is rounded down to the nearest dollar -- the other one up. Go figure ......  But, since the increase in Medicare premiums is tied to the dollar Cola amount, rounding down will result in a Medicare premium increase of a dollar less than had it been rounded up. Thus, a wash with the roundings.

 

And since the new Cola adjusted benefit figures are an even dollar (from rounding either up or down to the nearest dollar) ..... and since previous years' figures end in 90 cents -- Cola dollar amounts thus become 10 cents, $1.10, $2.10, ...... $7.10, whatever. Thus, for those already in the SS and Medicare program in 2016, your $104.90 monthly Medicare premium (where it's been for four years) will now be.... $108 ($104.90+$3.10), $110, $115, whatever. And since this matches exactly your monthly increase in SS benefit, the check deposited to your account will be identical to last year's.

 

Don't know why the SS Administration latched on to even dollars -- gotta be a money angle in there somewhere (unless the new guy is just a neat freak with figures....). Doesn't do anything for those of us under the "hold harmless" agreement (see below article). Maybe it affects those who aren't (or won't be).

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bet-you-cant-guess-your-medicare-part-b-premium-for-2017-2016-11-02

 

Anyway, don't go "huh" when next year's January deposit is identical to what you've been getting.

Edited December 30, 2016 by JimGant

[Pib]

Govt math will always remain a mystery.

[ubonjoe]

I am not complaining since I am getting a dollar more than I expected. Also .3% verses none for the last two years is better.

But of course more than .3% would of been much better.

[JimGant]

Quote

I am not complaining since I am getting a dollar more than I expected.

 

Joe, I guess, then, that you're not paying Medicare premiums?

[IMA_FARANG]

It's nice to know they are finally coming out with the letters this year.

I am currently in Hong Kong but returning to Bangkok today (31 December 2016)

Hopefully I will have my letter awaiting me at my residence in Bangkok.

MY SSA pension is already paid directly to my Bangkok Bank accoiunt by dirrect deposit and has been since September 2014.

It should show up in my Bangkok Bank account thr first week of January 2017 as it does every momth.

My pension direct deposit normally shows up on the 4th of each month, give or take a day or two for holidays.

Might be a day or ywo late this month (January 2017 New Years day holidays in Thailand and bank closedfor them).

But it is nice to have the annual Benefits letter to copy and show as "proof of my pension" if asked.

Also used for income tax purposes.