\u201cFor most people who rely on Social Security for the majority of their retirement income, it\u2019s not very much at all,\u201d said Martha Shedden, president of the Melville-based National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts.<\/p>\n
The calculated increase \u201cisn\u2019t representative\u201d of how seniors spend their money compared to the average wage earner, especially because older Americans tend to spend more on health care<\/a>, she said.<\/p>\n WHAT TO KNOWMany Long Islanders believe the 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment\u00a0for Social Security in 2026 is not enough for seniors to cover living expenses,\u00a0especially with rising inflation and health premiums.<\/p>\n In 2026, the average retirement benefit<\/a> will rise from $2,015 per month to $2,071. For most, that\u2019s not enough alone to manage living expenses on Long Island, where the cost-of-living is higher than most other parts of the country.<\/p>\n Financial advisers recommend strategies such as delaying Social Security claims until age 70, minimizing taxable income\u00a0and consulting experts to maximize benefits.<\/p>\n Martha Shedden, president and co-founder of the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts in Melville. Credit: NARSSA\/Portia Shao<\/p>\n In 2026, the average retirement benefit<\/a> will rise from $2,015 per month to $2,071. For most, that\u2019s not enough alone to manage living expenses on Long Island, where the cost of living is higher than in most other parts of the country.<\/p>\n In Suffolk County<\/a>, a single adult needs to take home at least $63,155 per year before taxes to cover expenses, according to the Living Wage Calculator<\/a>, run by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A single adult in Nassau County<\/a> needs $61,357 per year before taxes.<\/p>\n Salvatrice Williams, 72, of Massapequa, collects Social Security and said that while she is doing fine, thanks to financial planning while she was working, she knows many seniors who are struggling to make ends meet.<\/p>\n \u201cSeniors are on food lines, getting groceries. I don\u2019t have any friends like that, fortunately, but I know a lot of people that do a lot of volunteer work and they see it,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re not getting enough in Social Security as a monthly income.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams is not the only one who feels that way. More than three-quarters of Americans over 50 across the political spectrum said the 2026 COLA does not keep pace with living expenses in a September survey<\/a> conducted by AARP.<\/p>\n In the survey, 72% said Social Security recipients need at least a 5% raise \u2014 nearly double the actual rate \u2014 to keep up with costs in the new year.<\/p>\n While changing the way the cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security benefits is calculated has been a concern, conversation about the issue has been dominated by heightened anxiety<\/a> about cuts in coming years, Shedden said.<\/p>\n In their 2025 annual report<\/a>, the Social Security Administration trustees said the agency’s\u00a0cash surplus would be exhausted in 2034. That means the program will only be able to pay out around 81%<\/a> of current benefits.<\/p>\n The funding issue is connected to a surplus of retirees compared to workers paying into Social Security, Shedden said. \u201cThe only reason they\u2019re able to continue paying 100% of benefits right now is that there was a surplus that had developed in the trust funds due to the last time they made major amendments.\u201d<\/p>\n But, despite concerns about the surplus running out, it\u2019s still better to wait until age\u00a070,\u00a0the maximum age for starting to collect Social Security benefits, if possible, to receive\u00a0a higher check, Shedden said. Working with a financial adviser could help further maximize benefits based on individual situations.<\/p>\n \u201cBecome informed; ask questions. If you do not think you\u2019re getting the correct answer or if it doesn\u2019t seem right to you, keep asking,\u201d Shedden said.<\/p>\n Seniors should also seek to minimize their taxable income, said Howard Ginsberg, a Roslyn-based financial adviser.<\/p>\n Up to 85% of Social Security benefits are taxable by the federal government, with the tax rate varying based on<\/a> factors like combined income, he said. Pensions, IRAs, 401(k)s and other forms of retirement funds are taxable<\/a>, although Roth distributions are not.\u00a0<\/p>\n One-time payouts, like money from the sale of a house,\u00a0also impact Social Security benefits, Ginsberg said.\u00a0<\/p>\n “With the stock market being high in the last few years, some people have a lot of capital gains and they’re paying this increase or this surcharge from income they had a year ago or two years ago. They don’t have that income now,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ginsberg advised seniors to consult financial experts for advice on when it makes sense to start collecting Social Security and how to minimize their taxable income.\u00a0<\/p>\n Edward Helm, 65, a certified public accountant based in Massapequa,\u00a0said many clients are deciding to opt into Social Security earlier because they\u2019re afraid it will be cut.<\/p>\n \u201cMy own personal opinion is, I think it will be around and you’re better off, if you can afford to do it, to wait as long as possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n While Helm has not yet started collecting Social Security, his wife, who is 67, has, and he said the COLA increase this year is not high enough to account for the impact of inflation.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a lot of clients that are not wealthy \u2014 they\u2019re middle class people \u2014 and I do think a lot of them are struggling more because of inflation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He added,\u00a0\u201cIf I was retired, I think it would be much harder with that small increase.\u201d<\/p>\n Brianne Ledda covers personal finance and affordability for Newsday. She previously covered Southold and Greenport for The Suffolk Times and is a graduate of Stony Brook University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the first Social Security checks hit bank accounts in 2026, some Long Islanders say this year’s\u00a02.8% cost-of-living…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[28,3475,147,530,5478],"class_list":{"0":"post-398847","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-nassau","10":"tag-personal-finance","11":"tag-personalfinance","12":"tag-suffolk"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Martha](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768030994_678_image.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Brianne](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768030994_684_image.jpeg\"\/)
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