When is postage going up again 2011

Canada withdrawing non-essential staff from Haitian embassy amid security concerns. More than half of Canadians under 40 see Baby Boomer legacy as negative: poll.

Most-Watched false. Camp Hope residents turn to mobile crisis. Searching for unmarked graves. Cannabis market provides growth, job opportunities to Sask. First Nation. Three men sentenced to life for first-degree murder in death of Shawn Douglas.

Highway 11 down to one lane after fatal collision. Other postal products would see a price hike as well:. Forever stamps currently cost 55 cents, and their price would rise to 58 cents in August as well.

You won't have to add additional postage to make up for the price increase. You can still use an original Forever stamp purchased 14 years ago for 41 cents to mail a first-class letter today without additional postage. Forever stamps, introduced in , are always equivalent to the current price of a first-class stamp. Since , virtually all first-class stamps sold are Forever stamps.

You can even use Forever stamps for outbound international letters. You'll have to add additional stamps to get to the correct amount of postage for international mail, however. For international letters, a Forever stamp has the monetary value of the price of a first-class stamp on the day it is used.

Join today and get instant access to discounts, programs, services, and the information you need to benefit every area of your life. It's no secret that widespread use of email and the shift to online banking have taken a toll on the post office. People need fewer stamps for letters and bills these days, and businesses can reach customers more affordably and efficiently with email instead of junk mail.

The original Post Office Department, established in , was reorganized as the USPS, a separate agency, in , and generally receives no taxpayer money for operating expenses. A law capped postage increases at the Consumer Price Index , the government's main measure of inflation. Note: We are currently in the process of replacing our commenting service, so it may take a few days for previous comments to appear.

Login or register on AARP. You are leaving AARP. While the cost of a first-class stamp would go up, people who bought Forever stamps at the current 44 cents or at lower prices would still be able to use them without paying the difference.

Officials also said they plan a new design for Forever stamps, which currently have am image of the Liberty Bell. New Forever stamps will have images of evergreen trees.

All Forever stamps would remain valid. Under the proposed increases, in addition to the cent rate for the first ounce, the cost for each additional ounce would go up a penny to 18 cents. The cost to mail a postcard would go up 2 cents to 30 cents. The price to send periodicals would go up about 8 percent, and other rates for advertising mail, parcels and services would rise by varying amounts. The rate increases proposed Tuesday now go to the independent Postal Regulatory Commission , which has 90 days to respond.

If approved the new prices would take effect Jan. Besides the first-class increase, postage costs would rise an average of 5 percent. After going more than three years without an increase, the post office has raised stamp prices annually since The latest increase is part of a series of deficit-fighting plans, announced in March, that include reducing mail deliveries to five days a week, closing offices and making other cuts in expenses.

Congress would have to agree to eliminating deliveries on Saturdays. The weak economy has sharply reduced mail volume as companies cut their advertising. At the same time there has been a significant drop in lucrative first-class mail, with more and more people turning to the Internet to communicate with each other as well as to receive and pay bills. The postal inspector general also contends that the Postal Service has been overcharged billions of dollars for retirement benefits for employees who worked for the old Post Office Department before it was converted to the Postal Service in Already a subscriber?

Monitor journalism changes lives because we open that too-small box that most people think they live in.