Democracy Dies in Darkness

Social Security payments aren’t rising fast enough for most seniors

The annual cost-of-living adjustment parallels a CPI index for wage earners, which does not fully account for retirees’ health-care costs.

4 min
(Washington Post illustration; iStock)
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Social Security was never intended to be the sole income for retirees.

Yet it is for a vast number of Americans.

As a “major source” of income for 58 percent of the nation’s retirees, Social Security is the “bedrock of their financial security,” according to Gallup.

Second and third, respectively, are a workplace pension (34 percent) and 401(k) or other retirement savings account (29 percent).

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