Posted on 05/13/2022 11:40:42 AM PDT by Red Badger
Benefits ticked up 5.9% this year, but they're not keeping pace with rampant inflation.
The Senior Citizens League predicts Social Security benefits will increase 8.6% in 2023.
Social Security benefits got a big boost in January thanks to soaring inflation: The Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) increased payments by 5.9%, or $93 a month for most beneficiaries.
Now a report from The Senior Citizens League predicts another bump is coming in 2023 that could raise benefits by 8.6%, the biggest increase since 1981.
Impacting roughly 70 million Americans, this year's increase raised the average benefit for a retired worker to $1,658 per month, according to the Social Security Administration.
If the prediction by TSCL, which advocates for older Americans, is accurate, beneficiaries could see another increase of about $143 a month in 2023, bringing their check to approximately $1,800.
The group's projections are based on the latest data on inflation, including the Consumer Price Index -- which rose 8.3% last month compared with the same time last year, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Wednesday.
Last year, TSCL predicted a 6.1% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) in benefits, slightly higher than the 5.9% increase the SSA actually ended up approving.
Senior Citizen League policy advisor Mary Johnson told CBS MoneyWatch that the previous increase "isn't keeping up with the rate of inflation today -- and that is really difficult when you are trying to live on a fixed income."
The League would like benefit adjustments weighted toward changes in costs that hit seniors most, like health care. Rampant inflation has caused Social Security benefits to lose 40% of their buying power since 2000, according to its report, the deepest loss in buying power since 2010.
In the past year alone Social Security purchasing power dwindled 10 percentage points, according to the TSCL study, from a 30% loss of buying power in March 2021 to 40% in March 2022.
When will I know if my Social Security benefits are increasing?
The Social Security Administration will disclose next year's Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) some time in October.
Beneficiaries should receive letters in December detailing their new benefit rate for 2023. If you miss this letter, you can still verify your specific increase online via the My Social Security website.
When would the extra money appear in my Social Security check?
The COLA goes into effect with December benefits, which are paid in January 2023.
Social Security payments are made on Wednesdays, following a rollout schedule based on the beneficiary's birth date: If you were born from the 1st through the 10th of the month, your benefits are paid on the second Wednesday of the month and any increase will appear in your Jan. 11 check.
If your birthday falls between the 11th and 20th of the month, your checks are paid on the third Wednesday, and you'll see your first COLA increase on your Jan. 18 check.
Those born between the 21st and the end of the month receive benefits on the fourth Wednesday, which, in 2023, is Jan. 25.
How does the increase in Social Security benefits compare to current inflation?
Though this year's 5.9% benefits increase is the highest in 40 years, it didn't keep pace with inflation, which rose 6.8% between November 2020 and November 2021.
The 8.6% increase predicted by Johnson would be fairly on par with the current 8.3% inflationary rate announced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on May 11. But if inflation continues to trend upward as the months progress, it could fall short again.
So the rats think they can buy the senior vote?
We got 5.9% in January....A little short of present REAL costs..dontcha think??
Wow! That’s it. Big money. I will abandon my many years of dedication to conservative principles and now vote for democrats. They’ve won me over.
A huge part of it goes to Medicare.
Every larger SS check is more we have to borrow.
Yep.
The DoD uses this COLA number for retirement pay also. :)
I think Social Security has been pegged to inflation for over 40 years now. Democrats shouldn’t get a political bounce unless Republicans try to unpeg it.
of course, medicare part b premiums ate up a bunch of that ss raise.
Not yet. But soon.
Already eaten up by fuel costs.
(You pay more for Medicare based upon household income 2 years prior.)
But, then they jackup medicare that wipes out a big piece of the ssa benefit. Money to pay for illaegel aliens got to come from some where. Besides the demonrats plan on making everyone, except themselves, distitute.
fool me once.......they will take ALL of it out for medicare, you know that “free” program we were all forced to pay into for decades so we could get absolute free health care coverage in our old age....
Every year we are borrowing more.
Social Security is the biggest spending item.
(there is no Trust Fund, it’s been spent, it’s just a bunch of IOUs)
“they’re not keeping pace with rampant inflation”
Which means they’re not getting a boost at all. They’re being cut.
It’s a long way to January.
With the ongoing Biden disaster, we’ll be lucky if we don’t face reductions.
Monopoly money.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.