COLA Count Drops

A quarter of the way through the measuring period used for setting the January 2005 federal retiree cost-of-living adjustment, the COLA count stands at -0.2 percent, following a -0.2 percentage point drop in December in the index used to set the adjustment. Should the COLA remain in negative territory throughout the counting period, retirement benefits will not be reduced; there is no such thing as a negative COLA. Meanwhile, the December tabulation finished the different counting period used to determine the COLA for those drawing Federal Employees Compensation Act benefits. They will get a 1.6 percent increase effective with their April payments.