keywords: increase checks taxes percent rising
text: Social Security checks to rise 2.7 next year The nation's 47 million Social Security recipients got a bit of good news yesterday: their checks next year will increase 2.7 percent, or an average of \$25 thanks to the program's annual cost-of-living adjustment. But looking further into the future, the news is less encouraging. A trio of forces -- higher taxes, rising medical costs, and a mandated increase in ...