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By: FEDweek StaffThe count toward the January 2021 federal retiree COLA has crossed back into positive territory, now standing at 0.3 percent through nine months, following an increase in June of 0.6 percent in the inflation index used to set the COLA. Drops in the figures for March and April, followed by a flat figure for May, had reduced the count to -0.3 from a high of 0.7 through the February count.
Cost-of-living-adjustments (COLAs) are effective on December 1 of each year and are applied to the annuity payments made the following month. COLAs for those retired less than one year are prorated according to the date on which they retired. If you retire in January, your first adjustment will be made in January of the following year and will be for 11/12ths of the COLA amount. If you retire in February it will be 10/12ths, and so forth. Future COLAs will be for the full amount.
Time to Change COLA Brands for FERS & CSRS?
For years, much of the focus in Washington on federal retirement benefits has centered around two main assertions. First, that the cost of living adjustment, or COLA, provisions are very valuable. Second, that we must do something about that.ask.FEDweek.com: COLAs – Federal Cost of Living Adjustments
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