The annual inflation adjustment for\u00a0Social Security benefits\u00a0was released on Friday, and beneficiaries are set to see larger benefits in 2026.<\/p>\n
Social Security\u2019s annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will be 2.8% next year, following the announcement by the Social Security Administration. <\/p>\n
On average, Social Security retirement benefits will increase by about $56 per month starting in January.<\/p>\n
The annual\u00a0Social Security COLA\u00a0has averaged about 3.1% over the last decade, and was 2.5% in 2025. Inflation trending higher this year caused the COLA to be larger.<\/p>\n
\u201cSocial Security is a promise kept, and the annual cost-of-living adjustment is one way we are working to make sure benefits reflect today\u2019s economic realities and continue to provide a foundation of security,\u201d said SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano. \u201cThe cost-of-living adjustment is a vital part of how Social Security delivers on its mission.\u201d<\/p>\n
The COLA was initially expected to be released on Oct. 15. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics was impacted by the ongoing government shutdown, which delayed the release of September CPI\u00a0inflation data\u00a0that\u2019s used to compute Social Security\u2019s COLA.<\/p>\n
The annual inflation adjustment for\u00a0Social Security benefits\u00a0was released on Friday, and beneficiaries are set to see larger benefits in 2026. visuals6x \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n
The BLS recalled some of its furloughed workers to complete the\u00a0September CPI data, which was also released on Friday, to allow the COLA announcement to proceed.<\/p>\n
SSA said that beneficiaries will receive a one-page notice about their COLA, which includes plain and personalized language along with exact dates and dollar amounts for the new benefit amount and any deductions.<\/p>\n
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AARP CEO Myechia Minter-Jordan noted in a statement that among the more than 70 million Americans who receive Social Security, it\u2019s the primary source of income for 40% of\u00a0older Americans, and touted the group\u2019s efforts to protect the COLA and Social Security at large.<\/p>\n
The annual\u00a0Social Security COLA\u00a0has averaged about 3.1% over the last decade, and was 2.5% in 2025. larryhw \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n
SSA said that beneficiaries will receive a one-page notice about their COLA, which includes plain and personalized language along with exact dates and dollar amounts for the new benefit amount and any deductions. Jon Anders Wiken \u2013 stock.adobe.c<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past year, many older Americans have been financially squeezed, and Social Security is an important key to their financial health. It isn\u2019t just a source of income \u2014 it\u2019s a lifeline of independence and dignity, for tens of millions of older Americans,\u201d Minter-Jordan said.<\/p>\n
The Senior Citizens League Executive Director Shannon Benton said that the \u201c2026 COLA is going to hurt for seniors\u201d and argued that it should be strengthened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYear after year, they warn that Social Security\u2019s meager increases won\u2019t be enough, and the Census Bureau estimates that about 10% of retirement-age Americans live in poverty. However, our research suggests that the number may be higher. It\u2019s about time our elected representatives show up for seniors, or else seniors won\u2019t show up for them at the voting booth,\u201d Benton said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The annual inflation adjustment for\u00a0Social Security benefits\u00a0was released on Friday, and beneficiaries are set to see larger benefits…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[114,268,85,932,46,266,267,1759],"class_list":["post-96380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-il","tag-inflation","tag-israel","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-social-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}