‘I’m strapped every month.’ Seniors struggle as inflation continues to outpace Social Security benefits

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When Stephanie Zebrowski retired and started collecting Social Security in 2018, she was able to get by on her monthly payment with a little left over before the next one arrived.

That’s no longer the case. Zebrowski, who worked as a financial editor at a brokerage firm, now finds that the $2,200 monthly payment she receives (after her Medicare premiums are deducted) has not kept up with inflation in recent years. That’s forced the 75-year-old to drain her savings to pay for essentials – such as groceries , gas , doctors’ visits and utilities – and make some unpleasant decisions.

Zebrowski, who once considered herself middle class, started visiting a food bank last year and keeps her home colder than she’d like in the winter, even though it aggravates her arthritis and leaves her in pain. She’s had to start creating meals “out of practically nothing,” adding that she’s “learning to like beans.”

Courtesy Stephanie Zebrowski

“I’m strapped every month,” said Zebrowski, who lives in rural Jefferson, New York. “I’m spending almost every penny. It didn’t used to be that way.”

Like Zebrowski, many senior citizens are finding that their Social Security benefits are not keeping pace with the rising cost of living, especially in recent years. The payments are adjusted every year based on inflation, but many older Americans and their advocates have long said that the annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) formula doesn’t match the actual increase in expenses.

This year, the bump was 2.8%, or an additional $56 per month for the average retiree, who receives $2,071 a month. But a $17.90 increase in the standard monthly Medicare premium – the second-largest hike, in dollar terms, in the program’s history – to $202.90 ate into that raise.

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The 2027 monthly adjustment, which is scheduled to be announced on October 14, could be around 3.5%, based on early indications. That would provide a retiree with around $72 more a month. But the benefit boost won’t go that far when the price of gas, beef , healthcare and other needs have soared, Mary Johnson, an independent Social Security policy analyst, told CNN.

“The inflation we have had in recent years has not gone away. It has not disappeared completely,” she said. “It just heated right back up again with the war in Iran.”

(Medicare’s standard premium is forecast to increase $6.60 a month for 2027, according to the program’s trustees.)

Social Security benefits have lost 13.7% of their buying power over the past decade, according to a recent analysis by The Senior Citizens League, an advocacy group. Put another way, a dollar of benefits in 2016 is only worth 86 cents today. That’s taking into account increases of 5.9% in 2022 and 8.7% in 2023 when inflation skyrocketed after the pandemic.

Payments would have to jump by nearly $296 a month, or about $3,550 annually, to restore their buying power for the average beneficiary, the analysis found.

Many older Americans depend on Social Security for a large portion of their income and can’t easily adjust to higher prices, Shannon Benton, the league’s executive director, told CNN.

“Gas prices are going to be gas prices, right? You can’t substitute that. You can’t substitute your medications for something else,” Benton said. “These are things that there’s just no wiggle room for seniors.”

Lawmakers, advocates and think tanks have floated myriad ideas for changing Social Security’s annual adjustment, though they haven’t gone far on Capitol Hill. One proposal would shift the formula to an inflation index tied to price changes based on the spending patterns of senior citizens, known as CPI-E. However, other measures would curtail the COLA as part of an effort to improve Social Security’s overall finances.

Pat and her husband, who asked that their last name not be used for privacy purposes, are both around 75. She said they had been able to make ends meet on Social Security and savings because her husband did some handyman jobs for their neighbors in their Florida senior community. But health issues forced him to stop this summer, leaving them dependent on credit cards to pay for groceries, gas, medical and dental care, medicine and other expenses. They used to pay off the balance each month but can no longer do so.

Big increases in home and auto insurance premiums over the past two years have added to their financial strain.

Though Pat said a 3.5% adjustment would be better than they’ve received in some prior years, it’s still insufficient to keep up with all the other cost increases.

“These little raises just aren’t enough,” said Pat. “We’re still trying to catch up from previous years.”

The couple, who receive a total of roughly $2,850 a month after Medicare premiums are deducted, estimate they are about $1,000 short each month, even though they cook at home nearly every night and don’t take vacations. A looming concern is the expiration of the interest-free period on their credit card early next year.

The next step is to sell some of their possessions, like her husband’s tools.

“There’s nowhere else to cut,” Pat said.

For Peter Jovanovic, Social Security’s annual increases never fully kept up with inflation. But the 69-year-old said his roughly $1,700 monthly check buys considerably less these days since “everything has gone up in price.”

A former truck and taxi driver who had to stop working in his early 50s for medical reasons, Jovanovic had been able to get by because he found a cheap apartment to rent in upstate New York. However, he was then hit with a big rent increase after being forced to move because of issues with his landlord. That left him thousands of dollars in credit card debt that he’s been unable to whittle down.

Courtesy Peter Jovanovic

Though he’s now living in subsidized senior housing, Jovanovic is still feeling the bite of higher grocery prices and utility costs. He doesn’t own a car, and his friends have started asking him to chip in for gas when they drive him to the supermarket and on other errands. Taxi and Uber rides cost more, too.

The estimated 3.5% adjustment for 2027 wouldn’t do him much for him since “everything is so expensive,” he said. He thinks he’d get about $57 more a month.

“It doesn’t come close to what I need to live halfway comfortable, just to afford little things in life,” he said. “I don’t have any luxury stuff.”

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2018 年，斯蒂芬妮·泽布罗夫斯基退休并开始领取社会保障金，她每月靠这笔钱就能维持生活，在下一笔钱到来之前还能剩下一点。

情况已大不相同。曾在一家证券公司担任财经编辑的泽布罗夫斯基发现，她每月收到的2200美元（扣除医疗保险费后）近年来并未跟上通货膨胀的步伐。这迫使这位75岁的老人不得不动用积蓄来支付生活必需品——例如食品杂货、汽油、看病和水电煤气费——并做出一些令人不快的决定。

泽布罗夫斯基曾自认为是中产阶级，但去年她开始去食物银行领取救济。冬天，她把家里的温度调得比自己喜欢的要低，尽管这会加重她的关节炎，让她疼痛难忍。她不得不开始“几乎用没有的食材”做饭，并补充说她“正在努力喜欢上豆类”。

感谢 Stephanie Zebrowski 提供图片

“我每个月都捉襟见肘，”住在纽约州杰斐逊郊区的泽布罗夫斯基说。“我几乎把每一分钱都花光了。以前可不是这样的。”

和泽布罗夫斯基一样，许多老年人发现他们的社会保障福利金增长速度跟不上生活成本的上涨，尤其是在近几年。虽然福利金每年都会根据通货膨胀进行调整，但许多美国老年人和他们的权益倡导者长期以来一直认为，年度生活成本调整（COLA）公式与实际支出增长并不相符。

今年，养老金涨幅为2.8%，相当于每月平均增加56美元，而普通退休人员每月收入为2071美元。但每月标准医疗保险费上涨17.90美元，达到202.90美元——这是该计划历史上第二大涨幅（按金额计算）——抵消了这部分增长。

凯文迪奇/盖蒂图片社/文件

社会保障金是否跟得上您的生活成本上涨？分享您的故事

根据初步迹象，2027年的月度调整幅度（暂定于10月14日公布）可能在3.5%左右。这将使退休人员每月多领取约72美元。但独立社保政策分析师玛丽·约翰逊告诉CNN，鉴于汽油、牛肉、医疗保健和其他生活必需品价格飙升，这项福利增长并不足以弥补这部分增加带来的实际收益。

“近年来出现的通货膨胀并没有消失，也没有完全消失，”她说。“只是随着伊朗战争的爆发，通货膨胀又迅速加剧了。”

（据该计划的受托人预测，到 2027 年，联邦医疗保险的标准保费预计将每月增加 6.60 美元。）

据老年人权益倡导组织“老年公民联盟”最近的一项分析显示，过去十年间，社会保障福利的购买力下降了13.7%。换句话说，2016年1美元的福利金，如今仅值86美分。这还是在考虑到2022年和2023年分别增长5.9%和8.7%的情况下得出的结果，而2023年通货膨胀率在疫情后飙升。

分析发现，要恢复普通受益人的购买力，每月支付金额必须增加近 296 美元，或每年增加约 3550 美元。

美国社会保障联盟执行董事香农·本顿告诉 CNN，许多美国老年人依靠社会保障金获得很大一部分收入，难以适应物价上涨。

“汽油价格就是汽油价格，对吧？没办法用其他东西替代。药品也没办法用其他东西替代，”本顿说。“对于老年人来说，这些事情根本没有回旋余地。”

尽管立法者、倡导者和智库提出了无数关于改革社会保障年度调整方案的想法，但这些方案在国会山进展甚微。其中一项提议是将调整公式改为与老年人消费模式相关的通胀指数，即CPI-E。然而，其他一些措施则旨在削减生活成本调整（COLA），以改善社会保障的整体财务状况。

帕特和她的丈夫（出于隐私考虑，他们要求不透露姓氏）都已年近75岁。她说，他们以前靠社会保障金和积蓄勉强维持生计，因为她丈夫在佛罗里达州的老年社区里帮邻居们做一些零工。但今年夏天，由于健康问题，他不得不停止工作，这让他们不得不依靠信用卡支付食品杂货、汽油、医疗和牙科护理、药品以及其他开支。他们以前每个月都能还清欠款，但现在却无力偿还了。

过去两年房屋和汽车保险费的大幅上涨加剧了他们的经济压力。

虽然帕特表示，3.5% 的调整幅度比往年要好，但这仍然不足以弥补其他所有成本的增长。

“这点小幅涨薪根本不够，”帕特说。“我们还在努力追赶前几年的进度。”

这对夫妇每月扣除医疗保险费后，总共大约能拿到2850美元，他们估计每月还差1000美元左右，尽管他们几乎每天晚上都在家做饭，而且也不度假。他们面临的一个迫在眉睫的问题是，明年年初信用卡免息期就要到期了。

下一步是卖掉他们的一些财产，比如她丈夫的工具。

“没有其他地方可以削减了，”帕特说。

对于彼得·约万诺维奇来说，社会保障金的年度增长从未完全跟上通货膨胀的步伐。但这位69岁的老人表示，他每月大约1700美元的支票如今购买力大不如前，因为“所有东西都涨价了”。

约万诺维奇曾是一名卡车和出租车司机，五十出头时因健康原因被迫停止工作。他之前靠在纽约州北部租到一套便宜的公寓勉强维持生计。然而，由于与房东发生纠纷，他被迫搬家，之后却面临房租大幅上涨的困境。这让他背负了数千美元的信用卡债务，至今仍无力偿还。

承蒙彼得·约万诺维奇惠允

尽管约万诺维奇现在住在政府补贴的老年公寓里，但他仍然感受到食品价格和水电费上涨带来的压力。他没有车，朋友们开车送他去超市或办其他事时，都会请他分担油费。出租车和优步的费用也上涨了。

他说，预计2027年3.5%的调整对他来说意义不大，因为“物价太高了”。他估计自己每月大概能多挣57美元。

“这点钱远远不够我过上稍微舒适一点的生活，连一些小东西都买不起，”他说。“我没有任何奢侈品。”