COLAs have flat - lined at unprecedented lows over the past 7 years, averaging just 1.2 percent a year. That's less than half the 3 percent that COLAs averaged from 2000 to 200"The low growth in Social Security benefits since 2009 has a significant impact on overall retirement income of anyone who has been retired since that year," Johnson says. "For people retired over the past seven years, monthly benefits in 2016 are today 13 percent lower than if inflation had been the more typical 3 percent per year," Johnson explains. "In dollar amounts, that's 0 per month lower for someone with average benefits," she adds. "This is huge and this loss of anticipated retirement income compounds every year causing people to spend through retirement savings far more quickly than planned, " she says. "Over the course of a 25 or 30 year retirement, it reduces anticipated Social Security income by tens of thousands of dollars," Johnson says. "Unfortunately this financial impact is not fully understood by the vast majority of the public and Members of Congress — The Senior Citizens League is working to change that," Johnson notes. .The new effort could be part of a second package later this year and TSCL will closely examine the legislation once it is finally developed to see if it accomplishes our goals and whether we can support it. .This week, four new cosponsors signed on to the bipartisan Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act (H.R. 711), bringing the total up to 11The new cosponsors are Reps. Don Young (AK-1), Carlos Curbelo (FL-26), Brenda Lawrence (MI-14), and Erik Paulsen (MN-3). .Individuals at full retirement age (66 in 2017) who retire with an average monthly benefit of ,300 would receive about 0,000 over a 25-year retirement assuming a 2.2% cost-of-living adjustment. Since you were born in 1955, your full retirement age is 66 + 2 months. But even people who retire at full retirement age are leaving money on the table when starting benefits prior to reaching age 70. Waiting until age 70 allows benefits to grow 8% per year. .Also last year, I introduced the Medicare Advantage Coverage Transparency Act which was ultimately passed with unanimous support and then signed into law by President Obama. Decision-making in Washington should be based on transparency. A truly representative legislature should foster a culture of openness, which is why this law now requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to offer Congress expanded information on Medicare Advantage enrollment each year based on zip code, congressional district, and state. The purpose of this additional data is to provide greater information to the public, to policymakers, and to the health care community so they may have the most up-to-date information when making decisions. .However, current benefits, as we will learn today, are inadequate, unfair, and in many cases discriminatory, because of systemic economic inequities. .According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), wages are growing faster for people who earn more than the Social Security taxable maximum than for people earning less. The CBO projects that this unequal growth in earnings will cause a decline in revenues received by the Social Security Trust Fund over the next decade. .The value of my 401(k) fell in March of this year and still hasn't fully recovered. I turned 70 in April. Will I be forced to sell investments at a loss in order to withdraw the required minimum amount? .Alexandria, VA (October 24, 2011) In January, for the first time in two years, Social Security recipients will get a sorely-needed cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). Benefits will rise 3.6% in 2012, following a surge in inflation that occurred even while seniors had no annual increase to help meet rapidly rising prices. Stagnant COLAs may soon be a fact of life for beneficiaries - a change that would also lower lifetime Social Security benefits, especially for Baby Boomers, warns The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), one of the nation's largest nonpartisan seniors groups.