FREMONT, Neb. (KMTV) — The Social Security Administration announced millions of their beneficiaries will get a cost-of-living adjustment, the highest since the 1980s.
The average check will rise more than $140 and it's a change that seniors at the Fremont Friendship Center believe is much needed with inflation at 8.2%.
"It's been hard but we manage," senior Mary Shonka said.
Shonka admits the deck is stacked against her with the current economy. She is frustrated she can't provide a financial cushion for her daughter after she had a car wreck and her furnace needed a repair.
"So, then I had to choose: help her with the furnace, help her with the car. So I had to help her with the furnace because that's what they needed, so she's driving a smashed car. I would have liked to have been able to help her do something, get a down payment or something for another car, but I don't have it," Shonka said.
There's also 90-year-old LaVonne Nelsen who worked until she was 83, finding it much harder now to support herself.
"I've been retired now for a few years and I've used up my savings — it's gone," Nelsen said.
Luckily, these seniors will get a cost-of-living adjustment at more than 8% and it's a nest egg that Shonka needs.
"Whatever increase they give me, I get $739 right now, whatever increase over that they give me will be put away," Shonka said.
For Nelsen, she welcomes the uptick. All kinds of costs have increased for her like rent and groceries. She's cutting down on unnecessary expenses — call it frugality or elder wisdom.
"I was brought up during the Depression years. From my folks I learned that you just give up on a few things and you try to get by with what you have," Nelsen said.
Senior citizens will also see their Medicare Part B premiums drop next year, the first time in more than a decade.
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