Social Security Beneficiaries Have Lost 36% of Their Buying Power Since 2000
Many seniors rely heavily on Social Security to cover their expenses in retirement. Granted, some people manage to kick off their senior years with savings and have investments that pay them continuously during their 70s, 80s, and beyond. But for a lot of people, Social Security is really their only source of income. And it's seniors in this boat who have been getting hurt financially for several decades and counting.
The reason? New data from the nonpartisan Senior Citizens League reveals that Social Security recipients have lost an astounding 36% of their buying power since 2000. What's particularly surprising about that figure is that it's coming on the heels of the program's most generous cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to come down the pike in decades.
At the start of 2023, seniors on Social Security saw their monthly benefits increase by 8.7%. In spite of that, long-term Social Security recipients have lost a ton of buying power over the past 23 years. And that trend is, unfortunately, likely to just continue unless lawmakers take action.
Source Fool.com
