Social Security Recipients to Receive Big Benefits Boost Next Year
Social Security recipients are set to receive the biggest benefits boost in 40 years. After months of speculation and anticipation, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced that its 2023 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will be 8.7% percent. On average, Social Security benefits will increase by more than $140 per month starting in January.
That’s welcome news to the more than 48 million retired Americans who receive Social Security benefits and have been struggling financially because of rising inflation.
While we are all thankful for the generous COLA, it could be more. The Seniors Trust supports the Social Security Expansion Act, which calls for using the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly, or the CPI-E, to calculate the annual COLA, rather than the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or the CPI-W, currently used. The CPI-E specifically tracks the spending of households with people aged 62 and older. It places greater value on rising costs of expenses unique to seniors such as housing, healthcare and medicine. This would provide a much fairer cost-of-living adjustment for retirees.
