Social Security COLA Update: What Retirees Should Watch Before the 2027 Announcement
Retirees could be looking at a notable bump this year.
Overview
This is a crucial time of the year for retirees who receive Social Security benefits. Each fall, the Social Security Administration (SSA) issues a cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, to account for inflation's impact on living expenses. What happens in the economy this summer will determine what next year's COLA looks like.
The latest forecast from The Senior Citizens League calls for a 3.8% COLA this year. That's not an official number, but it does signal that retirees may see a larger increase than last year's 2.8%. Here are some factors retirees should watch before the formal COLA announcement later this year.
Details
The SSA bases the COLA on the performance of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W, in July, August, and September of each year. The SSA averages the CPI-W's value over those three months and compares it to the same months of the prior year. In 2025, the index averaged 317.265 in the third quarter, which drove that 2.8% COLA.
Source
Originally published at www.fool.com.
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