As a senior citizen on a fixed income, I look for ways to save money – on anything I buy, but especially groceries, because that is probably the biggest part of our household budget.
Over the past few years, I have looked forward to any information on how much my Social Security will increase the following year. What I’ve learned is that any increase all us retired people receive doesn’t come close to covering the increase we see in the prices of the things we need. Besides the higher prices, it seems inevitable that our health insurance costs will increase, nibbling away at the higher monthly payment we get.
Since a few months ago, news reports informed us that there will be a $6,000 addition to the standard deduction we use to file our taxes, which basically means I’ll be able to keep about $1,200 (or another way to look at is I’ll pay about $1,200 less to the IRS when I file my taxes in 2026. So, it’s about $100 per month I’ll be keeping.
Another benefit to seniors receiving Social Security payments is an inflation-fighting $200 added to the monthly payment I receive from Social Security, but it is slated to last only through 2026 – if it actually gets added to our monthly Social Security payment deposited into our account on the third Saturday of each month. From where I stand, I’ll take any benefit or extra money I can get because the cost of living isn’t getting lower; it keeps increasing, and that forces some pretty interesting decisions about our budget.
There’s also been a lot of talk about a $2,000 tariff rebate sent out to qualifying individuals – I’ll believe it when I see it, and frankly, I’m not sure I, or anyone in our household, will be among those who qualify.
More locally, there’s been a lot of talk about eliminating real estate taxes here in Florida. Our Governor wants them gone, but I understand other lawmakers want to present several options on the ballot in 2026, which means, if any of the new proposals get 60% approval, none of us will benefit from the change until 2027.
At this point in my life, I wish I had done a better job of putting money into savings, to help retirement be less stressful, but it’s a bit late in life and I’ll simply have to do the best I can do to enjoy what time I have left.
Have A Good Week!
