Glossary of Social Security Disability Law Terms
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #
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Child: May include biological children or
any other child who can inherit your personal property under
State law or who meets certain specific requirements under
the Social Security Act.
COLA: Cost of Living Adjustment. Social
Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income payments
are increased each year to keep up with inflation.
Computation Years: Computation years are
the years with highest earnings selected from the "base
years."
CPI: Consumer Price Index. An index
prepared by the U. S. Department of Labor that charts the
rise in costs for selected goods and services. This index is
used to compute COLA increases.
Carve out: Redirected payroll taxes that
were going into the Social Security system and are now going
into private retirement accounts. The money is “carved out”
of the Social Security system and not available to pay
benefits for current retirees.
