2015 Cost of Living Adjustment Change RAS
Overview: The Cost of Living Adjustment Change RAS is sent out every year, and notifies members of the change in their gross and net pay that occurs when Congress passes a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) to their pay.
1. Dates: The Statement Effective Date on your COLA Change RAS is 12/1/2015.
2. Pay Information: This year, Congress authorized a 0% COLA, so both the before and after figures for both gross and net Retired Pay are the same.
3. Year to Date Summary: Because the statement effective date on this RAS is 12/1/2015, the Year to Date Summary figures are for 11 months only. They do not include your December payment, and will not match the figures on your 2015 1099-R.
4. Messages: Years in which the authorized COLA is 0% are rare, and there are some circumstances in which this situation triggers outdated or confusing messages. This is particularly true for members who received retired pay during the year, but went into full VA waiver status before the year was over.
Specifically, this year the following messages may cause some questions:
"Your VA waiver has changed due to the recent legislation." This statement refers to the effects of the COLA. Since the COLA was 0%, there were 0 effects.
Similarly, some retirees may see this message, "Due to the VA legislative change, your VA compensations and CRDP amounts have been adjusted." One again, since there was no COLA, there was no change in the amount.
Finally, some retirees may receive a note regarding rounding CRDP down to the nearest dollar. This message is outdated and will not appear in subsequent RAS statements. Members who see this notice should not be concerned. Their benefit is not being rounded down.