Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm sorry nurse that you are having a rough go of it.
As the spouse of a (now retired) service member, I have learned never to count on a whole lot of anything from them. When hubby and I were first married, I was covered for eye and dental care. That changed while he was still in the service. There was a time when he didn't get paid for 4 months, because some clerk thought he was over paid.
Extra money is always good, but I'm good if they don't cut anything!
And truth be told, where we are at now, mills are closing, peoples hours are getting cut, people are having to drop insurance coverage, just to make ends meet. We still get the pension, we still have insurance, we are better off than a lot of people.
Please note - I did NOT say we were lucky (I hear that a lot) these benefits were well earned.
About the only "pay raise" that really made a difference to me was in 1981. I got a raise because I was promoted from 1LT to Captain, I got a raise because I went over 2 years time in service and I got a 14.7% pay raise to catch up after the shortages during the Carter years. Add all three together and it was a whopper of a raise. After that, 3-5% per year does not seem like much. I did not even notice I did not get one this year until I read this chain.
I'm sorry to read of COLA freezes for veterans. Hopefully, the will think twice about this.
S.
It was not a Freeze.
Each year military retirement pay is adjusted to meet the increased cost of living. The Cost-of-Living-Adjustment (COLA) is based on the previous year's Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The CPI dipped below 4 percent in the first two quarters of FY2009 and was still in negative numbers at the end of the fiscal year. Due to the negative CPI in FY2009 there will be no COLA increase for military retirees in 2010. You know what? by rights they could possibly take some money away...
I prefer to receive what is due fair and square. This is a non-issue for me.
When the cost-of-living goes up, our congress-critters are nice enough to give us a raise. This is a nice thing. They dont have to but they do [granted they also give themselves huge massive raises, but that is off-topic here].
I do appreciate the raises when they come.
However our nation is in a recession - depression thing. The cost-of-living is going down. There is no earthly reason for expecting a raise this year.
By the same reasoning that we get raises, we should also get some deducted each time that it gets cheaper to live. But it is not happening.
I think that all of us, who are on military pensions, should just smile and be happy that they are not reducing our pensions.
ceteris paribus
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I do not see it as a pay raise.
