Retirees know all about tracking numbers closely.

After years of careful planning of their lifestyle expenses, income streams, and of course Social Security, many seniors have set themselves up for some well-earned downtime in their later years.

However, some numbers are easier to control than others. While you can always limit your expenses or build up your investment portfolio, it’s hard to control the state of your Social Security benefits.

If you’re like many seniors in that you’ve been looking closely at rising expenses following a hectic couple of years in the economy, you may notice that COLAs aren’t exactly keeping up with what retirees hoped for.

Fortunately, this could be about to change – at least for next year.

Next year’s COLA will be higher than normal – 5.9 percent. An increase this high hasn’t been seen since 1982 – nearly 40 years ago.

While any increase is a move in the right direction, the big jump will help immensely at a time when inflation has been rising rapidly. But what needs to happen for a historic increase like this to come to pass? A few key factors need to align.

The first is that the Federal Reserve needs to raise interest rates, which would stave off inflationary pressure in the near future. This would pave way for the second criteria for the landmark increase, which would be a stronger economy that stabilizes after a couple years of immense strain.

The final factor that plays a role in giving seniors a high Social Security COLA involves direct activism from retirees themselves. Though it often seems like matters involving this benefit are contained within the walls of legislative buildings in D.C., seniors can make their voices heard and drive positive change.

Remember, Social Security is something seniors earned – so a fair increase is well-deserved.

Standing Up for Seniors

Here at NORA, we’re determined to make sure seniors have their concerns addressed and their Social Security benefits adjusted fairly in a changing economy. You can play a vital part in giving retirees fair treatment by signing our petition, and by following us on Facebook or Twitter for more news about COLAs and other related topics.