We’ve Got the Inside Scoop on Next Year’s Social Security COLA

There’s been a lot of speculation about next year’s Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). Many people think soaring inflation will cause it to skyrocket. As The Motley Fool reports, that might happen and it’s got evidence to support that thought. An article by the financial and investment advice company quotes the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Chief Actuary, Stephen C. Goss, as saying: “With the trends we’re seeing this year, it’s likely we’re going to have a COLA closer to 8 percent than 3.8 percent next year.”

That’s good news for the millions of retired Americans struggling to get by financially as the prices of consumer goods continue to climb. The high costs of basic necessities, like food and gasoline, are eating up the benefit checks of seniors living on a fixed income.  

This is one of the reasons why The Seniors Trust is calling for a fairer COLA calculator. We support the Social Security Expansion Act, which uses the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) to calculate Social Security COLAs instead of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners (CPI-W) used currently. The CPI-E takes the unique spending habits of seniors into account — particularly regarding the cost of healthcare — and offers a more realistic COLA for retirees. You can help make this happen by signing our petition to Congress.