Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 08-17-2013, 06:52 PM   #21
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
martyp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Thailand countryside, Sisaket province
Posts: 1,331
Mine is a COLA'd pension. The COLA % is based on the cost of living indexes for the San Francisco Bay Area and the Los Angeles Area. I haven't heard of any cap.
__________________
Happy, Wild, and Free
martyp is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 08-17-2013, 07:02 PM   #22
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
RAE's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: northern Michigan
Posts: 2,213
Quote:
Originally Posted by braumeister View Post
Military pensions have the same COLA as SS, meaning no cap.
There are quite a few of us here.
Right, no cap on military/CSRS fed pensions, but the COLA has been pretty pathetic in recent years. I retired in 2010, and here are the annual COLA's since then:

January 2010 -- 0.0%
January 2011 -- 0.0%
January 2012 -- 3.6%
January 2013 -- 1.7%

And the last I heard, the COLA in Jan. 14 is on track to be around 1.3% or so.

Sure, it's still better than not getting a COLA, but it ain't much. I realize that could change in the future........
RAE is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-17-2013, 08:39 PM   #23
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 799
My pension has a COLA that is 50% of the CPI for the first 5 years then the % is increased to 75% of the CPI. There is also a cap of 9% on the COLA. Also, at age 65, we get 10% more if we remain in the state.
akck is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-18-2013, 04:55 AM   #24
Dryer sheet wannabe
ccourt9283's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 15
My pension will increase at 1/2 of the the CPI. It doesn't apply if I leave before 62, so 3 1/2 more years.
ccourt9283 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-18-2013, 05:28 AM   #25
Moderator
Walt34's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Eastern WV Panhandle
Posts: 25,299
Mine is COLA'd, no cap, tied to the CPI of MD, DC, WV, PA, DE, and VA, states surrounding the Washington, DC area. It used to be just the Washington, DC area but they expanded it to get the increases down a bit.

Since it is tied to the CPI, it can go down, and in 2009 it did by 0.05%. I haven't heard of any others that do that. On the flip side it is 100% of the CPI for those areas. I feel very, very lucky to have that.
__________________
When I was a kid I wanted to be older. This is not what I expected.
Walt34 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-18-2013, 05:31 AM   #26
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Redbugdave's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Columbia, SC
Posts: 1,131
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaufmanrider View Post
Here is how my Federal COLA is calculated.

For Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) or FERS Special benefits, if the increase in the CPI is 2 percent or less, the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) is equal to the CPI increase. If the CPI increase is more than 2 percent but no more than 3 percent, the Cost-of-Living Adjustment is 2 percent. If the CPI increase is more than 3 percent, the adjustment is 1 percent less than the CPI increase. The new amount is rounded down to the next whole dollar.

I guess something is better than nothing.
Only thing...the FERS COLA only begins at age 62. No COLA until then...
__________________
"I either want less corruption, or more chance to participate in it." Ashleigh Brilliant
Redbugdave is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-18-2013, 08:37 AM   #27
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Bikerdude's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,901
Cola pensions are much more valuable than non-cola. I have a non-cola but between SS and expenses not subject to inflation I only need to match or exceed inflation on 45% of total income.
__________________
“I guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you've probably misunderstood what I've said” Alan Greenspan
Bikerdude is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-18-2013, 09:37 AM   #28
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 68
Wife and I both have pensions along with SS. Pensions have annual COLA of up to 3 Percent compounded. We look to investments to provide us with additional COLA each multiple of our combined pensions providing us with additional COLA based on returns. Hope this is understandable.
TuborgP is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-22-2013, 06:07 PM   #29
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
kyounge1956's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 2,171
There are also pensions with a COLA floor. Mine has a fixed 1.5%/year increase, with a floor at 65% of the original purchasing power. After that I believe it would increase each year by the CPI. My mom's pension also has a floor. She's been retired for many years so I assume hers is being kept at floor level now.
kyounge1956 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-22-2013, 08:38 PM   #30
Recycles dryer sheets
Kaufmanrider's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Forney
Posts: 120
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redbugdave View Post
Only thing...the FERS COLA only begins at age 62. No COLA until then...

You might want to double check that. If you retire under the FERS Special Retirement as a LEO/ATC/FF you begin receiving COLA's as soon as you retire.

I know, I am one.


Cost of Living Adjustments
Your annuity will be increased for cost-of-living adjustments, if:
You are over age 62; or
You retired under the special provision for air traffic controllers, law enforcement personnel, or firefighters; or
You retired on disability, except when you are receiving a disability annuity based on 60% of your high-3 average salary. This is generally during the first year of receiving disability benefits; or
Your retirement includes a portion computed under Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) rules.
FERS retirees under age 62 who do not fall into one of the categories above, are not eligible for cost-of-living increases until they reach age 62.
Kaufmanrider is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-23-2013, 05:52 AM   #31
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Redbugdave's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Columbia, SC
Posts: 1,131
Yes, you are right. LEO's, ATC, etc., do get the COLA as soon as they retire. But regular Govt employees do not till 65.

Edit to add...CSRS retirees get COLA, FERS requirements are quoted above.
__________________
"I either want less corruption, or more chance to participate in it." Ashleigh Brilliant
Redbugdave is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-23-2013, 06:53 AM   #32
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
RockyMtn's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: North Scottsdale
Posts: 1,545
Two pensions await. Neither is COLA'd.
__________________
FIRE'D in July 2009 at 51...Never look back!
RockyMtn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-13-2013, 09:06 AM   #33
Confused about dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 5
Qualified NY retirement system members receive a partial COLA based only on the first $18K of the pension. The COLA amount is one-half the CPI, with a minimum of 1% and a maximum of 3%. I'm happy to have it because many pension plans have no COLAs.

Some have been trying to have the base amount increased from $18K to $25K, with no success (not surprisingly).
Betty Noir is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-13-2013, 09:20 AM   #34
Dryer sheet aficionado
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: bryn mawr
Posts: 47
I chose to pay more during my working career to get an unlimited COLA provision on my pension. Time will tell if that bet pays off.
johnrlawjr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-13-2013, 09:29 AM   #35
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 88
I have a State government pension. When I retired in 2010 the pension statutes contained an automatic annual COLA provision, but the Legislature removed that provision in 2011. So, no more COLA; but the funding status of the pension system jumped up considerably as a result.
ocdokie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2013, 04:24 PM   #36
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
OAG's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Central, Ohio, USA
Posts: 2,635
Quote:
Originally Posted by RAE View Post
Right, no cap on military/CSRS fed pensions, but the COLA has been pretty pathetic in recent years. I retired in 2010, and here are the annual COLA's since then:

January 2010 -- 0.0%
January 2011 -- 0.0%
January 2012 -- 3.6%
January 2013 -- 1.7%

And the last I heard, the COLA in Jan. 14 is on track to be around 1.3% or so.

Sure, it's still better than not getting a COLA, but it ain't much. I realize that could change in the future........
I don't mean to quibble but prior to 2010 there was only one other 0% COLA back in the 1980's and in 2009 I think it was 5.8% (11.1% over the past 5 years is not too bad IMO). Also the Military retirees have Tricare or Tricare For Life to mitigate a possible major upcoming expense (for however long that will last).
__________________
Vietnam Veteran, CW4 USA, Retired 1979
OAG is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
cola pension


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:54 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.