YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY
By DAVID BROWN

Is a financially comfortable retirement something that you hoped to receive as a gift this holiday season?

Too many Americans are finding themselves in that "wish list" category for having the retirement they want. According to the most recent Retirement Confidence Survey from the Employment Benefit Research Institute, less than half of workers age 45 and older have even tried to calculate how much money they will need to save for retirement. That could leave them at some holiday season in the near future hoping that a comfortable retirement is given to them in a nicely-wrapped package.

For most American workers, Social Security forms the largest part of their financial foundation in retirement. If you have average earnings, your Social Security retirement benefits will replace about 40 percent of your income. Most financial advisors say you will need 70 to 80 percent of your work income to maintain your pre-retirement standard of living comfortably. So, you will need to make up the difference with pensions, savings or investments.

You can find a personalized estimate of your Social Security benefit by checking your Social Security Statement, which is mailed each year to every worker age 25 and older approximately three months before their birthday. Read it carefully because it contains information vital to your personal financial future. It shows not only how much you and your family might expect to receive from Social Security when you retire, but also what Social Security would provide if you become disabled or die. To learn more, visit www.socialsecurity.gov/mystatement .

You also may want to visit Social Security's financial planning Web site at www.socialsecurity.gov/planners . You can use the calculators there to test different retirement ages or different scenarios for future earnings amounts.

Among the many important features of a monthly Social Security benefit is the annual Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA).

Each year, all Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments increase automatically based on the rise in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), from the third quarter of the prior year to the corresponding period of the current year. This year, benefits will go up by 3.3 percent.

The 3.3 percent COLA will begin with benefits that nearly 49 million Social Security beneficiaries receive in January 2007. Increased payments to more than 7 million Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries began on Dec. 29.

Without an annual COLA, benefit payments would not have the same spending power. This is especially important as today's retirees live longer, with life expectancy at an all-time high. That is why many financial planners point out that the annual COLA is such an important feature, and one that relatively few private pensions have.

While the annual COLA is automatic today, prior to 1975 it took an act of Congress to increase Social Security benefit payments. The first increase was not put into effect until 1950 - a full decade after monthly benefits began. If you would like to learn more about COLAs, including the one for 2007, visit Social Security's Web site at www.socialsecurity.gov , where you also will find a wealth of information about Social Security and its programs.

Mr. Brown is District Manager of the Social Security Administration's Downtown New York Office.