2025 COLA Increase: Good News for Social Security Recipients!

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2025. This means that Social Security benefits will increase by an average of $46 per month for retired workers, $28 for disabled workers, and $24 for survivors.

The COLA is a way to protect Social Security benefits from inflation. It is calculated each year based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). The CPI-W measures the change in prices for a basket of goods and services purchased by urban wage earners and clerical workers.

The 2.5% COLA for 2025 is lower than the 3.2% COLA for 2024. However, it is still higher than the average inflation rate for the past 10 years, which was 2.2%.

The COLA will be applied to Social Security benefits beginning in January 2025. The SSA will mail out notices to beneficiaries in December 2024 with information about the amount of their increase.

What does this mean for you?

If you are a Social Security beneficiary, you will see a small increase in your monthly benefits starting in January 2025. This increase will help to offset the rising cost of living.

The COLA is not a perfect solution to the problem of inflation, but it is a step in the right direction. It will help to ensure that Social Security benefits keep pace with the rising cost of living and that beneficiaries can maintain their standard of living.