Page 8A
BUSINESS
East Oregonian
Saturday, October 14, 2017
Social Security recipients will see 2 percent boost in 2018
WASHINGTON (AP) —
Millions of Social Security
recipients and other retirees
will get a 2 percent increase in
benefits next year, the largest
increase since 2012, though
it comes to only $25 a month
for the average beneficiary.
The cost-of-living adjust-
ment, or COLA, affects bene-
fits for more than 70 million
U.S. residents, including
Social Security recipients,
disabled veterans and federal
retirees. That’s about one in
five Americans.
The Social Security
Administration announced
the COLA Friday.
By law, the COLA is
based on a broad measure of
consumer prices generated by
the Bureau of Labor Statis-
tics. Advocates for seniors
claim the inflation index
doesn’t accurately capture
rising prices faced by seniors,
especially for health care.
“It doesn’t make your life
any easier. It’s really made it
tight,” said Barbara Bogart,
who retired from a home
health care company. “You
Boost in Social Security benefits
Social Security trustees predict recipients will get a 2 percent
automatic benefit increase in 2018, the largest since 2012.
Annual cost of living adjustment (COLA) since 1975:
15 percent
2018:
2 percent
10
5
0
’75
’80
’85
’90
’00
’95
’05
’10
’15 ’18
NOTE: The 1983 adjustment was delayed until January 1984; there were
no increases in 2010, 2011 and 2016.
SOURCE: Social Security Administration
have to be so careful to make
it each month.”
Bogart, 75, who lives near
Indianapolis, said she gets
less than $1,000 a month
from Social Security, her
only source of income.
“I have all the normal
costs that people have. I
have groceries, gas for my
car,” she said. “I have to be
BRIEFLY
Greg Smith to address Heppner chamber
HEPPNER — Rep. Greg Smith is the special speaker for
the upcoming Heppner Chamber of Commerce meeting.
The no-host luncheon event is Thursday, Oct. 19 at noon
at Heppner City Hall, 111 N. Main St. The meal, which is
catered by Bucknum’s, features chicken bacon ranch wraps,
chips and a cookie. The cost is $10.
In addition, Kimberly Lindsay will share about an
upcoming concert featuring Christopher Duffley. Sponsored
by Community Counseling Solutions, the free event is
Sunday, Dec. 10 at 6:30 p.m. at Heppner High School.
Those planning to attend the luncheon are asked to RSVP
by Tuesday to ensure there’s enough food and seating. For
more information or to register, contact 541-676-5536 or
heppnerchamber@centurytel.net.
Big River tees off for 10 years
UMATILLA — Big River Golf Course in Umatilla is
swinging into celebration mode as it announces a 10-year
anniversary event.
People are invited to pack the clubhouse Monday, Oct. 30
from 5-7 p.m. at 709 Willamette St., Umatilla. Golfers are
encouraged to register for their 2018 memberships prior to
the event to be entered into a drawing for a chance to receive
a $300 refund on membership dues. The drawing will be
held at the anniversary event at 6:45 p.m.
For more information, contact Megan Olsen at 541-922-
306 or megan@golfbigriver.com.
Downtown alliance seeks volunteers
MILTON-FREEWATER — The Milton-Freewater
Downtown Alliance invites people to stay abreast of what’s
happing in town and to get involved.
The alliance has several committees people can join to
help. Focus areas include organization, planning, design and
marketing.
For more information, contact Jenny Camarena or David
Shannon at 541-969-4485, mfda.director@gmail.com or
visit www.mfdowntown.org.
AP
cautious.”
Some conservatives argue
that the inflation index is
too generous because when
prices go up, people change
their buying habits and buy
cheaper alternatives.
Consumer prices went
up only slightly in the past
year despite a recent spike in
gasoline prices after a series
of hurricanes slowed oil
production in the Gulf Coast,
said Max Gulker, senior
research fellow at the Amer-
ican Institute for Economic
Research.
“For the most part, there
was a decline in energy
prices for a lot of the year,”
Gulker said. “But at the end
of the year we saw that uptick
in gas from the hurricanes.”
The average monthly
Social Security payment is
$1,258, or about $15,000 a
year.
Congress enacted auto-
matic annual increases for
Social Security in 1975. Pres-
idents often get blamed when
increases are small or zero.
But President Donald Trump
has no power to boost the
increase, unless he persuades
Congress to change the law.
In 2009, President Barack
Obama persuaded Congress
to
approve
one-time
payments of $250 to Social
Security recipients as part an
economic stimulus package.
Over the past eight years,
the annual COLA has aver-
aged just above 1 percent.
In the previous decade, it
averaged 3 percent.
Multiple years of small or
no COLA reduces the income
of retirees for the rest of their
lives, said Mary Johnson of
The Senior Citizens League.
“Think about the length
of a retirement period.
Eight years is about a third
of a (healthy) retirement,”
Johnson said. “It’s squeezing
them. It’s causing them to dip
into savings more quickly.
The lifetime income that they
were counting on just isn’t
there.”
The COLA is based on
the Consumer Price Index
for Urban Wage Earners and
Clerical Workers, or CPI-W,
a broad measure of consumer
prices. It measures price
changes for food, housing,
clothing,
transportation,
energy, medical care, recre-
ation and education.
The cost of medical care
has gone up by 1.5 percent
over the past year, according
to the September report
released Friday. Housing
prices are up by 2.8 percent
while the cost of food and
beverage has gone up by 1.2
percent.
Gasoline prices are up
10 percent from a year ago,
according to AAA, though
they have dropped in the past
month.
The COLA is calculated
using the average CPI-W for
July, August and September,
and comparing it to the
same three months from the
previous year.
Social Security is financed
by a 12.4 percent tax on
wages, with half paid by
workers and the other half
paid by employers. Next
year, the maximum amount
of earnings subject to the
Social Security tax will
increase from $127,200 to
$128,700.
About
175
million
workers pay Social Security
taxes. Of those, about 12
million workers will pay
more in taxes because of the
increase in taxable wages,
according to the Social Secu-
rity Administration.
Idaho-Oregon bulb onion crop smaller, prices higher
By SEAN ELLIS
EO Media Group
NYSSA — The onion
crop in the Treasure Valley
of Idaho and Oregon will
be significantly smaller this
year but growers are seeing
prices that are much higher
than normal.
“Yields are definitely
down and size is off a little
bit but prices are signifi-
cantly better,” said Bruce
Corn, one of the 300 farmers
in the area who grow the
Spanish bulb onions the
region is famous for.
Most
growers
and
shippers the Capital Press
spoke with said yields will
be off 20-30 percent this
year. Size profile is also
off and fewer colossals and
super-colossals, the largest
bulb onion sizes, will come
out of the region this year.
But prices are way up.
For example, a 50-pound
bag of jumbo yellow onions
is selling for $10-11 right
now, up from $5.50 to $6
this time last year.
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Onions are sorted Sept. 28 at a processing facility
near Nyssa. The bulb onion crop in the Treasure Valley
area of Idaho and Oregon will be smaller than normal
this year but prices are up significantly.
“As you drive around,
there are a lot of empty
bins,” said Paul Skeen,
president of the Malheur
County Onion Growers
Association. “The bottom
line is prices are up because
there is a shortage.”
Buyers from Mexico
are purchasing a lot of
onions right now and that’s
also impacting the market,
said Snake River Produce
Manager Kay Riley.
“The market is about as
good as we’ve seen it for this
time of year,” said Riley, the
marketing order chairman
for
the
Idaho-Eastern
Oregon Onion Committee.
Corn said the higher
prices mean grower returns
will be much better this
year, despite the smaller
crop.
“Last year, we had
incredible yields but low
prices. There was no return
after you paid packing
charges and storage,” he
said. “This year is signifi-
cantly better that way.”
Although this year’s
crop is much smaller
than normal, quality is
excellent, said Murakami
Produce Manager Grant
Kitamura.
“They are coming in in
really good shape,” he said.
“They are beautiful.”
Kitamura said it’s likely
the higher prices will hold
throughout the year, which
typically happens during a
year with limited supply.
“You could see higher
prices later; I don’t know
for sure,” he said. “But I
can’t see them going down.
Overall, we’re hoping for a
lot better year than we had
last year.”
Lobbying group challenges Oregon’s
retirement savings plan
EUGENE (AP) — An Oregon program designed to help
workers whose employers don’t offer retirement plans to
save money is under fire as a national lobbying group filed a
lawsuit against it.
The Register-Guard reports that the industry committee
on the Employee Retirement Income Security Act filed
the suit on Thursday in federal court, seeking to block
a reporting requirement that OregonSaves imposes on
businesses that already offer retirement plans to employees.
Committee officials say the compliance reporting
requirement is a burden on employers and the state is
reaching beyond what federal law allows.
State Treasurer Tobias Read says Oregon has worked
with companies to ensure the program “is simple, smart and
works well for everybody, because the bottom line is that we
want to make it easy to save.”
Fiat Chrysler recalls 470,000
vehicles for headrest problem
DETROIT (AP) — Fiat Chrysler is recalling nearly
470,000 older vehicles worldwide to fix a problem with
headrests that can malfunction in rear collisions.
The recall covers certain 2012 Jeep Liberty SUVs and
2012 and 2013 Chrysler 200 and Dodge Avenger midsize
sedans.
Fiat Chrysler says a safety restraint control computer
can degrade after several years of use. That can stop
the headrests from moving forward in a crash to protect
front-row occupants from whiplash injuries.
The company says it’s not aware of any related injuries.
Owners will be notified in November. Dealers will
replace the control computers at no cost to owners.
Gains for tech help U.S. stocks higher,
but insurers skid
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks finished mostly
higher Friday to wrap up a subdued week, and technology
companies did most of the heavy lifting. Investors were
also pleased to see that shoppers spent more money in
September.
Printer and PC maker HP sent technology companies
higher after releasing a strong profit forecast for next year.
Big names like Intel and Facebook also rose. Companies
in retail, travel and entertainment moved up after the
Commerce Department’s report on retail spending. Health
insurers and hospital operators skidded after President
Donald Trump said he will stop government payments to
insurance companies under the Affordable Care Act.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 2.24 points, or
0.1 percent, to 2,553.17. The Dow Jones industrial average
picked up 30.71 points, or 0.1 percent, to 22,871.72. The
Nasdaq composite gained 14.29 points, or 0.2 percent, to
close at a record high of 6,605.80. The Russell 2000 index of
smaller-company stocks slid 2.51 points, or 0.2 percent, to
1,502.66.
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