How to spend your new windfall of cash
This year, we saw a 3.2% cost-of-living adjustment. Will they adjust again? (Yes… skip ahead if you’re impatient.)
Everything costs more. That isn’t political; it’s just true. The Social Security Administration (SSA) determined the new disability pay rate on December 1, 2023.
This is what that 3.2% increase looked like without dependents:
| Disability Rating | Monthly Increase |
| 10% | $5.43 |
| 20% | $8.68 |
| 30% | $13.24 |
| 40% | $23.21 |
| 50% | $33.22 |
| 60% | $42.12 |
| 70% | $53.03 |
| 80% | $61.94 |
| 90% | $67.12 |
| 100% | $123.83 |
| Disability Rating | Monthly Increase (with 2 dependents) |
| 10% | N/A (no additional compensation for dependents at 10%) |
| 20% | $11.15 |
| 30% | $17.69 |
| 40% | $29.13 |
| 50% | $41.55 |
| 60% | $53.51 |
| 70% | $67.15 |
| 80% | $78.58 |
| 90% | $85.16 |
| 100% | $156.83 |
But what does this all MEAN? Let’s dissect that information and make some educated decisions with our money because, in 2025, there will be a 2.5% increase.
To properly and wisely spend our money, I’m going to break this down into units that all military people can understand. So, our bare minimum monthly increase is $5.43 at 10% disability with no dependents. This is going to be our baseline for this high-level examination of cost-of-living adjustments.
To start, let’s make 5.43 a round number so my inner knuckledragger doesn’t erupt out of me and force me to do something stupid. So, 5.43 will be 5 from here on out. So what does $5 = to a military veteran? Here’s what:
Baseline Menu:
- Crunchwrap Supreme from Taco Bell
- 2 for $5 Mix & Match Deal
- Items like the Big Mac, Filet-O-Fish, and 10-piece Chicken
- Biggie Bag from Wendys
- a bacon double stack burger, 4-piece nuggets, small fries, and a drink
- 6-inch Sub from Subway (Fuck you, inflation, where’s my five-dollar foot-long?)
- Whopper Jr. Meal
- Sandwich, small fries, and small drink
Alright, we’ve got our baseline dialed. So now we know this: If you’re 100% with two dependents, you’ll make an extra $155 a month. That works out to 31 options off of our baseline menu (featured above) per month. $155/5(baseline) = 31 baseline menu items.
That’s got you covered for more than one menu option a day for the entire year!! You could be ABSOLUTELY DEMOLISHING Big Macs. That’s 62 Big Macs a month, which is a whopping 744 a year. BUT WAIT IT GETS BETTER. If you weren’t aware, a Big Mac has two buns and two patties. That’s 1,488 patties and buns or 74.4 loaves of bread! Remember THAT when you’re complaining about groceries. As the great Ronnie Coleman would say, “You gotta eat big to get big.” It’s also no coincidence that Big Macs were one of Ronnie’s favorite foods to bulk with. So, if you’re looking to gain mass and you’re 100% T&P with two kids, you’re good to go, brother.
I’m sure you’re asking yourself, but Liam, I don’t have kids, and I’m not 100% T&P; how will I eat? Buckle-Up, I’m about to tell you.
If you’re only 50% disabled (which means you qualify for resident hunting/fishing benefits in 60% of States, so you should catch and kill some food) and you have no dependents, you can get six menu items per month. What does that look like? Well, if you’re like me and you enjoy the taste of yoga mat material in the bread you eat, you’ll want to take that extra $33.33 to Subway. At Subway, you can get yourself six six-inch subs extra per month. That’s 36 inches per month or 432 inches per year. If you were wondering, that‘s 36 feet of sub a year. If you’re a visual learner like I am, that’s your average telephone pole. Inflation just earned you an entire telephone pole of the subway a year. Thanks, inflation!
So, now you’re saying, well, that’s all well and good. Good for those rich folks at 100 and 50%. It must be so great being in constant mental and physical pain. Well, let me fill you 20%ers in on a secret. There is good news for you, too. While $8.68 may not seem like much of a monthly increase when considering inflation, there’s still good news. $8.68 still gets you 1.75 menu items per month. That’s 1.75 Wendy’s biggie bags. Each biggie bag is 1,140 calories, which is 1,995 calories per month or 23,940 calories per year. Or, to put it into visual terms, that would be like eating a small deer or a pronghorn. So lucky you, you didn’t even have to go hunt.
All kidding aside, I don’t recommend subsisting on fast food. This was a fun way to visualize the 2024 COLAs for disability pay, not the next big diet trend. Groceries are expensive, and there will be less adjustment in January 2025 (2.5%). If you need better methods of retaining some of your military pay, check out some more of my articles on Veterans Benefits. It’ll blow your mind what you’ve earned.