Social Security Benefits Have Lost 30% of Their Buying Power Since 2000

Social Security is a key income source for millions of retired seniors. For many, it's their primary or sole source of income. But that's a dangerous financial arrangement for one key reason: Those benefits have been doing a really bad job of keeping up with inflation.

Social Security benefits have lost an almost astounding 30% of their buying power since the year 2000, according to a new report by the Seniors Citizens League. And much of that boils down the fact that Social Security's annual cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs, have been relatively stingy over the past 10 years. Case in point: This year, seniors saw their benefits go up by just 1.6%.

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.