You recently published a letter criticizing Congress for its approval of a 2 percent raise for federal workers for 2010 and complaining of no increase in Social Security benefits for 2010.

The writer has an astonishing lack of understanding of both Social Security benefits and pay raises for federal employees. As of this writing, there’s no pay raise officially approved for federal employees for 2010; the 2 percent is merely what’s contained in the House bill, the Senate has yet to act.

Pay raises for federal employees are determined by Congress without any direct relationship to a cost of living increase (COLA).

In contrast, Social Security benefit increases are determined by a COLA, which is derived from the Consumer Price Index. If the CPI goes up, Social Security benefits go up automatically.

Additionally, those receiving Social Security are insulated against decreases in the CPI, as their benefits never decrease. The 2009 Social Security COLA was an astonishing 5.8 percent, due to in an increase in the CPI. In contrast, the 2009 federal employee raise was only 2.9 percent.

During 2009, the CPI went down; hence there’s no 2010 increase in Social Security benefits. All federal employees hired after 1984 pay into Social Security. As a federal employee for 18 years, I can tell you a raise of 5.8 percent is unheard of.

I’d love to get a raise tied to the CPI that can’t go down! The average Social Security beneficiary has long since received back the amounts they paid into Social Security and is operating in profit.

In 1960, the maximum amount of Social Security tax payable was $288, and in 1975 it was $1,650. The maximum employee portion payable today is $6,221.60 and will increase. The Social Security you pay today is a tax, which is going directly to other citizens.

For seniors, Social Security was never meant to be your retirement—it was and is meant to be a supplement to your retirement. If you’re retired and living on your Social Security now, it may indicate that you didn’t save enough when you were a worker.
Linette Angelastro
Newbury Park