[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 20, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 20CFR225.41]

[Page 433]
 
                      TITLE 20--EMPLOYEES' BENEFITS
 
                  CHAPTER II--RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD
 
PART 225_PRIMARY INSURANCE AMOUNT DETERMINATIONS--Table of Contents
 
                   Subpart E_Cost-of-Living Increases
 
Sec. 225.41  How a cost-of-living increase is determined and applied.

    Depending on the condition of the social security trust funds, the 
increase can be based on rises in either the consumer price index as 
published by the Department of Labor or the average wage index which is 
the average of the annual total wages used for computing a PIA. The 
increase is payable when the appropriate index for the third calendar 
quarter of one year shows an increase of at least three percent over the 
same index for the third calendar quarter of the previous year (or the 
last calendar quarter within which a legislated general benefit increase 
became effective). No increase is payable for the calendar year that 
immediately follows a year in which a legislated general benefit 
increase was effective. The increase amount is determined by multiplying 
the PIA by the percentage increase in the appropriate quarter of a 
previous year.