Social Security COLA for 2025: Agency increases payments for retirees and beneficiaries
Social Security recipients can expect a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase in their payments starting in 2025 amid cooling inflation.
Social Security recipients can expect a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase in their payments starting in 2025 amid cooling inflation.
It's the smallest increase since 2021. The amount equates to a top-line figure of approximately $48 more per month, with average check amounts rising from $1,920 to $1,968.
On Thursday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the 12-month consumer price index inflation rate hit 2.4% in September. The Social Security Administration calculates the annual COLA based on consumer price growth in the months of July, August and September. In July, consumer prices rose 2.9% on the year, and in August they climbed 2.6%.
Advocates for Social Security recipients have long argued that seniors have a different — and more cost-prohibitive — set of spending patterns that are not reflected by the current COLA determination process, which tracks a measure known as the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers.
The pandemic only exacerbated the issue.
Rating: 5