Glossary of Social Security Disability Law Terms
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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.
