Social Security 2025 COLA Falls Below 20-Year Average: Concerns have been raised about the financial well-being of retirees because the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2025 was revised higher than it was in January, but it remains the relatively lowest adjustment in several years.
Seniors and people with disabilities who receive Social Security benefits experienced a maximum 8.7% increase in their checks in 2023, according to Newsweek. However, in 2024, the payments increased by a significantly smaller amount, with only a 3.2% COLA.
This 2024 adjustment will increase benefits by approximately $50 for the majority of beneficiaries, according to Newsweek.
Social Security Recipients Receiving Payments This Week?
Senior Citizens League Analysis
Furthermore, The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) recently updated its long-term COLA projection for 2025 to 2.4%. The 1.75 percent increase predicted in February has increased, but it remains below the increase anticipated in 2024. The revision follows the March 12 publication of the most recent consumer price index (CPI) data, which indicated that inflation remains persistent at 3.2%.
The inflation data for February increased the estimated COLA for 2025 to 2.4%, which is “pretty close” to the 20-year average of 2.6%, according to TSCL Social Security and Medicare analyst Mary Johnson.
In its recent annual Budget and Economic Outlook for 2024 to 2034, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) also provided an approximation of the 2025 CSSA. The CBO forecasts that the COLA will be 2.5% in 2025 and 2.3% in 2026, both of which are lower than the increase in 2024.
Beneficiaries will continue to receive a benefit increase in 2024 that exceeds the 20-year average of 2.6%, according to TSCL. However, this may change as inflation gradually declines, as reported by CNBC.
TSCL determined that the 2024 increase resulted in an additional $59 per month. However, the National Association of Plan Advisors and 93% of respondents to a recent survey indicated that their household expenses increased by a greater amount per month in 2023.
43% anticipate that monthly household expenditures will surpass $185 in 2023.
Average Social Security Benefit at Age 67 in the US Revealed
