No Social Security increase. Monthly Social Security checks for most beneficiaries will not increase in 2010. Retirement payouts are tied to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, which fell between the third quarter of 2008 and the third quarter of 2009. Next year will be the first without a Social Security increase since cost-of-living adjustments went into effect in 1975.
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Higher Medicare Part B premiums for some. Most current Social Security recipients will continue to pay $96.40 each month for Medicare Part B medical insurance, the same amount as in 2009. But for new enrollees, Medicare Part B monthly premiums will be $110.50, a 15 percent increase from 2009 prices. Retirees with incomes greater than $85,000 ($170,000 for couples) also will pay higher premiums, ranging from $154.70 to $353.60 each month, depending on the income reported on their 2008 tax return.
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Among Fidelity-administered 401(k) plans, 27 percent of employers that cut contributions to employee retirement accounts have already resumed the match or plan to reinstate it next year. Another survey, by the Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America, found that almost half (47 percent) of companies that suspended their employee match are planning to restore it within the first quarter of 2010.