Poll: COLA~ What % is Yours?

[mickeyd]

2016 will be yet another year that a COLA benefit figures to be zero.

If you receive income streams monthly (SSA, pension, disability etc), what percent of that money (by amount) is subject to COLA?

 

[Senator]

It all depends on what is considered COLA...

VA Disability, current, 5% = Yes COLA
Rental Income current 50% = Generally yes COLA
Dividends current 20% = Generally yes COLA

Mega Corp pension at 65 = 10% No COLA
SS at 70, 15% Yes COLA

 

[bingybear]

I think I get Ginger Ale
I'm too far from taking SS to have a clue what it will be like when I get there. At this point I don't really have a good handle on what my income stream is... have not been getting a pay check since last Feb.

Not sure if picking up change off the street has COLA or not

 

[aja8888]

2016 will be yet another year that a COLA benefit figures to be zero.

If you receive income streams monthly (SSA, pension, disability etc), what percent of that money (by amount) is subject to COLA?

We receive SS so 100% is subject to a COLA.

We have no other income streams that are applicable to receiving a COLA.

 

[Mulligan]

My pension which is my source of funds is COLA'd. The ironic part was up to 3 years ago it was CPI from July to July maximum 5%. They changed it to automatic 2% if CPI was higher than zero, but no more. They did this as a cost savings to pension fund, but in the first 3 years we have actually received bigger COLA's because it has barely been scraping above 0%. This past year we got a 2% because CPI was 0.12%. I get COLA and then immediately hand it all over to the health insurance company.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Rustic23]

81% of retirement income COLA'd, if you consider IRA withdrawal to be COLA'd. I did as it is based on keeping up with inflation.

If you discount the iRA it is about 62%.

 

[34rlsa]

100% of our annual living expenses, including health insurance.

SS and govt. pension.

Our portfolio is gravy.

 

[W2R]

I have my FERS pension and Social Security, which add up to about 30% of last year's AGI. SS is fully COLA'd, and as most of us know FERS is Diet-COLA'd.

The closest option was 20%.

Most of my income comes from investments.

 

[Tadpole]

I put 50% but it is 84% if you don't separate full CPI from a diet CPI increase. My CPI-1 increase is from the largest component of my COLA-ed income. Only my husband's state government pension is non-COLA; our SS is full COLA and my federal pension is diet COLA.

 

[frayne]

I'm more of a Dr. Pepper, do it yourself guy.

 

[FIREd]

0% until SS kicks in.

 

[NW-Bound]

We are still a couple of years from even early SS. If we take SS early, then 40% of our income is COLA'ed. If SS is delayed till 70, it will be about 70%.

 

[Amethyst]

How do dividends qualify for a COLA?

Companies aren't required to raise their dividends at all, let alone in accordance with any CPI measures.

I
Dividends current 20% = Generally yes COLA

 

[jim747]

0% until SS kicks in.

Ditto

 

[rodi]

DH's SS income and our rental income are COLA. (Well - rent is periodically cola'd - we try not to jack up rent on our good tenants... but instead on tenant turnover we up it to full market.)

It will increase when I go on SS in 10+ years. My small corporate pension is non-Cola.

 

[Theseus]

When I was w**rking cheap whisky and cola was my goto, but now that stress induced desire for alcohol is gone, quality bourbon with no cola is my fave. So 0% cola for me.
Oh yeah, and those pensions got no cola either.

 

[unclemick]

Ballpark 20% all early SS. Non -cola pension. And the 20% is gonna drop if I start spending all my RMD.

heh heh heh -

 

[Sue J]

DHs pension has a 3% COLA. It's fixed at 3% of his initial pension payment. He's been retired over 5 years so his pension is now 15% more than in year 1. Being that the COLA is the same every year it's now 3% of about 87% of his current pension payment.

Yeah Mulligan, it goes right to the large increase in health insurance. None of our other expenses fluctuate like that one.

We are very grateful to have the COLA. His pension system has already changed the COLA for more recent retirees. Now it's tied to an index and can be 0% to a maximum of 3%.

Happy to be a dinosaur.

 

[jimandthom]

We are very lucky to have CSRS and SS(in 2018 assuming I wait till then).


We come in at 70% of our spending goal beginning in 2018. That goal is 110% of our present spending.


The COLA'd figure will be 90% of our 2018 estimated income stream. We are very fortunate. Hopefully the investments will have their own form of COLA to make up the difference we need .

 

[John Galt III]

Why isn't there a zero option in the poll? I think most of us would be at zero except for SS. I have zero cola. My income is from company pension and interest on CD's, plus annual Roth conversion. Zero cola on all that. Prefer RC cola when available.

 

[Chuckanut]

0% COLA for the previous 12 months as measured from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015

 

[Midpack]

Yet another indication there are quite a few SIRE's here vs FIRE's...

http://www.early-retirement.org/for...slang-frequently-used-on-the-forum-34884.html