Retirees are likely to see only a modest rise in Social Security benefits next year when the Social Security Administration (SSA) announces the 2026 cost-of-living (COLA) increase in the fall. The latest projection is for an increase of 2.7%, the same amount as last month's rate.
The COLA, which takes into account year-over-year percentage changes in a subset of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), determines the increase in the checks of over 72.5 million Americans who receive Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments.
