For some folks .... Politics seems to be their religion of choich....

Is that PARFY enough or should I continue :D?

That's better than most of the salary bumps I received in the last decade of my career.

My nice increases came early in my career ... sometimes 2 or 3 per year .... as I was underpaid and they knew it. Towards the end, many years I received no salary bumps (only bonuses) as I was at the corporate max for my bracket ... and there were no more brackets for me to go into....

Those years did not suck ;)....

My household expenses are up 9.2%. Groceries being the highest at 14.7%.

Yes. It is amazing that some would tell us that gas prices are good and there is little or no inflation where they live. Much less that none of the things done to intentionally raise gas prices had that effect (it is all just a coincidence). Politics make folks say some strange things.

I am pretty sure that PARF is not really designed for threads where people simply observe that the sky is blue or that prices have gone up...or that voting effects what happens in this country (without advocating specific candidates), but I could be wrong.

When groceries are up almost 15% and one gets an 8.7% raise and is gleeful (or tells us it is better than other raises they earned when working that were above the inflation rate) ...is that political or just confusion? Imagine if you used heating oil and the price is up almost 70% over last year. You can't even buy eggs here I live now as there is a shortage (if you could, prices are up 43%).

I can understand why some might want to pretend that things are really going well, but that is not the case for most people. Things are going very, very badly. Nothing PARFy about that at all.

One of the top things I am thankful for at Thanksgiving is that I never really expected SS to be around when I got to this age. I planned accordingly and have a decent nest egg. The SSI is just an unexpected bonus that I paid into since I was 16, and I still pay into it. My wife and I planned well, lived frugally, and have no personal debt at all. My company has a loan on the airplane, but it is well under 1/2 the value of the airplane. We could see it at a profit in very short order if we wanted to. As it makes us money every time the engine runs, it ain't for sale.

Have not read through all the posts.

FWIW....here is my take:

If you expect the government to do what makes the most sense to assist you then you need a reality check. Of course it would make the most sense for a COL raise to accommodate the economy we see in our everyday lives. But the reality is "we" should not care if it does not because "we" have already made our own plans to sustain our household and lifestyle budget to an adequate measure.

Most have, I'm sure.

Go ahead and express your thoughts and feelings on the matter. I encourage you to do so. That's why we enjoy free speech as one of our freedoms here.

I'm grateful for anything I can get and will continue to stay busy maintaining my independent lifestyle as much as possible, regardless of what else is taking place.

My wife and I paid a tremendous amount into social security, and I certainly hope/expect to draw it (as promised) eventually. We have not done so yet.

No, I am not a bit grateful for social security (as I will never get back what I paid in) any more than I am grateful for any other retirement program that I paid into for returning what it was supposed to, maybe less grateful (as it was mandatory). I could have found a much better way to invest my money.

Needing it or not needing it is hardly relevant as it is not an income-based social welfare, although highly progressive (like Medicare).

Much of the country is pretty reliant on SS (whether we like it or not). The fact that it is up 8.7% when food, gas, heating oil, and rent (things one needs to survive) are all up over 10% is really nothing to be happy about IMHO.

Not enough whining and crying to meet PARF standards. We are too optimistic here.

^^^ Optimistic is the way to be.

Life is too short to worry about things we can't control.
I look at each day as being better than the one before. (prob why I can't sleep in past 6 am):)

At this point I care more about being able to get my bike ride in each day than 99% of the stuff I hear others whining about here....:D

"Optimism" really is not the right word for thinking that there really isn't any inflation, gas prices are good, and 8.7% is a good raise when food costs 14.7% more. "Whining" is really not the right word for pointing out just how far from reality that is.

^^^ I feel sorry for you.

Why? Because I am honest and not trying to win any popularity contest on the internet?

8.7% is really not a good raise when food costs 14.7% more. It is not even a good cost of living adjustment. It is simple math.

Because with a nice col increase you can only talk negative of it.

Write your congressman and complain.

The whole concept of cola is to keep up with inflation. If it falls far behind, it is by definition not a "nice col". If it was a 30% increase and inflation was going up at a 40% rate, it would still not be good. You would still lose buying power. It is amazing that anyone could talk positively about having less buying power than the previous year while doing nothing differently. Runaway inflation is pretty bad... pretending otherwise simply begs a response.

I am pretty sure my congressman is not the core cause of the current problems with gas/inflation...and even more sure that they would not be able to help much.

Not much chance of you being popular on the internet.
You confuse your opinion with honesty. You may honestly believe the opinions you peddle, but that doesn't make them fact.

Personal attacks do not change the math or make facts opinions. You confuse outright misinformation with opinion and agreement in obfuscation with popularity. You can post nonsense as fact all you like, but that does not make it so. Even if it is simply to annoy folks you don't like.

Repeating yourself ad nauseam does not make your argument more compelling.

Lies, damn lies, statistics, and fint's perspective...

Samuel Clemmons just didn't live long enough :D