Rising inflation means seniors will see the biggest increase in monthly checks in four decades.
Conservatives bemoaned the higher payments, pointing out that Social Security ran a deficit of $127 billion in 2021 and could exhaust its trust fund under existing projections by 2034. That change, which takes effect next year, will help seniors keep more of the additional Social Security benefits than they otherwise would have been able to do. About half of the retirement income of middle-class retirees comes from Social Security, Chen said, but much of the other half comes from their 401(K) and IRA disbursements — which are tied to investment returns. The Social Security Administration increased the program’s benefits by 5.9 percent at the beginning of this year in response to lower — but still substantial — inflation in 2021. “The automatic adjustment is an essential part of Social Security that helps ensure the benefit does not erode over time due to rising prices.” The Social Security announcement came out around the same time the federal government released a separate monthly report on inflation.
High inflation will prompt a record Social Security cost-of-living increase in 2023. Here's what that means for benefits.
Multiple Democratic congressional bills have called for changing the measure used to calculate annual increases to the CPI-E. "The amount of the COLA really should not influence claiming," Elsasser said. In 2023, maximum taxable earnings will increase to $160,200, up from $147,000 this year. Whether the CPI-W is the best measure for the annual increases is up for debate. What's more, delaying benefits can increase the size of your monthly checks. Those payments are often deducted directly from Social Security benefit checks. The SSA calculates the annual COLA by measuring the change in the CPI-W from the third quarter of the preceding year to the third quarter of the current year. If you decide to claim Social Security benefits, you will get access to the record-high COLA. Amid record high inflation, Social Security beneficiaries will get an 8.7% increase to their benefits in 2023, the highest increase in 40 years. The average Social Security retiree benefit will increase $146 per month, to $1,827 in 2023, from $1,681 in 2022. "That will mean that beneficiaries will be able to keep pretty much all or most of their COLA increase," Mary Johnson, Social Security and Medicare policy analyst at The Senior Citizens League, - Social Security beneficiaries can expect an 8.7% boost to benefits in 2023, the Social Security Administration announced.
The new COLA, or cost-of-living adjustment, is 8.7%, the highest in 40 years.
Tell us at [nj.com/tips](http://nj.com/tips). [According to the Social Security Administration (SSA)](https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/quickfacts/stat_snapshot/), the average monthly benefit as of Sept. [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). [NJ.com](http://nj.com/). [benefit increase of more than $140 per month](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/13/social-security-cola-will-be-8point7percent-in-2023-highest-increase-in-40-years.html) beginning in January of next year. [according to the Social Security Administration (SSA).](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/COLA/colasummary.html) [Social Security recipients received a 5.9% COLA boost](https://www.nj.com/news/2021/10/what-is-the-social-security-increase-for-2022.html) in 2022, which was a substantial [Social Security increase](https://www.nj.com/social-security-increase/) from the previous two years.
Social Security recipients will see monthly checks that are nearly 9% bigger starting next year.
Social Security recipients should know today just how much their benefits will be increasing in the new year.
[READ MORE: Social Security increase: Bill would change COLA, put more money in hands of seniors](https://www.al.com/news/2022/09/social-security-increase-bill-would-change-cola-put-more-money-in-hands-of-seniors.html) [www.ssa.gov/myaccount](https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount). This year’s substantial Social Security cost-of-living adjustment is the first time in over a decade that Medicare premiums are not rising and shows that we can provide more support to older Americans who count on the benefits they have earned,” Acting Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi said.
The Social Security Administration is expected to confirm the 2023 cost-of-living adjustment on Thursday 13 October.
By comparing the CPI-W in the third quarters (July, August and September) of the current and previous year, the SSA determines how much benefits need to increase by in the coming 12 months to avoid falling behind the rate of inflation. [Put together by the BLS](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/cpiw.html), the CPI-W is a measure of how the cost of goods and services changes over time. [a statement](https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/releases/2022/#10-2022-2) on Thursday, the SSA said: “On average, Social Security benefits will increase by more than $140 per month.” [since 1981](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/colaseries.html). The COLA affects the more than 70 million recipients of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits in the States, ensuring that their payments rise in line with inflation. The United States’ Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced an 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2023 - the largest increase in four decades.