Many older Americans today would not be able to get by without Social Security. The Federal Reserve puts median retirement ...

Social Security beneficiaries receive an annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to keep the purchasing power of benefits ...

The Social Security Administration calculates the new COLA by measuring the increase in the CPI-W for the third quarter of this year with the third quarter of last year. Monthly reports on the ...

Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA) are designed to help Social Security benefits keep up with inflation, ensuring that beneficiaries' purchasing power remains stable. However, as inflation levels ...

and the hypothetical COLA based on CPI-E inflation. Data source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Social Security Administration. Table by author. As shown, Social Security recipients would have ...

Now, there's an estimate for 2026's Social Security COLA on the table. And the number may come as a surprise. The purpose of Social Security COLAs is to make sure that seniors can keep up with ...