Volatile market and Social Security on the rise?

This week the market has suffered significant losses. However, some investors are getting back into the market as oil prices continue to fall. On Monday the market rallied with the Dow Jones gaining 936 points but the market has suffered huge losses since Tuesday. Even with signs of late rally this afternoon any gains have been wiped away. I personally haven’t looked at my retirement funds since the crises began because I’m not interested in being depressed. I think it will be many more months before we see the markets start to show any relief from the bailout package if they show any at all.

In other money news…
Beginning in January Social Security benefits will go up 5.8%. That will be an increase of about $63 for the average retiree. This is the largest increase since 1982. The average retiree will go from receiving $1,090 per month to $1,153 per month. 50 million Americans will benefit from this increase in benefits. The Social Security Trust Fund is scheduled to deplete its reserves by 2041 and start paying out more than it takes in by 2017.