Social Security Benefits Will Rise 3.5 Percent.

Byline: Colleen Diskin

Oct. 19--The good news is that Social Security checks will increase by 3.5 percent next year.

That's the bad news, too, say some senior citizen advocates who argue that the boost will not keep pace with the soaring costs of everything from home heating fuel to prescription drugs, or even with the increased premium the federal government plans to charge seniors for Medicare coverage come Jan. 1.

The announcement Wednesday that retirees would benefit next year from the biggest Social Security cost-of-living increase in almost a decade was met with predictable reactions from seniors in North Jersey and elsewhere.

"Well it's never enough, is it?" said George Marshall, 60, as he sat eating a discount lunch at the …