Gino Grosso Speaks Out On the COLA
"Seniors need to get organized," says Gino Grosso of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. "Too many feel they can't do anything about low COLAs. People are very resigned."
Recently Gino was outraged by the recent low COLA and contacted TSCL about it.
Gino says housing, healthcare, and groceries are his "triad" of top expenses, spending 55% of his income on housing alone. Gino maintains that confronting the actual cost of these three expenses on a daily basis is a daunting challenge for all seniors who rely on the Social Security COLA. Gino emphasized, "the reality is the housing, healthcare and food costs are constantly changing. " He pointed out, "In 2014, as in the past, each of these expenditures burdened most seniors with cost increases of 5% or more, way surpassing the this year’s COLA."
Gino admitted that this mismatch affects him on a daily basis. For now, his only option is to decide between costly but healthy food and medication, or between medication and how much to heat one's dwelling in winter. Gino says that this is a (discreetly) hidden but all too common practice among seniors who, like himself, rely on Social Security for most, if not all of their income.
"An inadequate COLA is a real and sustained hardship for so many," Gino says. "Representing a significant voting block, seniors have the opportunity to address and hopefully correct this economic injustice through organized involvement in groups that express our legitimate financial need in an effective unified voice," he adds.
How about you? Want to join others in speaking out against benefit cuts and to tell Congress that Social Security beneficiaries need a fair COLA? Contact TSCL and let us know you would be willing to share your opinions with the press and with readers of TSCL's Social Security & Medicare Advisor newsletter.
