We Have 5 of the 6 Pieces of Data We Need to Calculate the 2025 Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA). Here's What They're Telling Us.

Below are the latest expert predictions for what the 2025 COLA could be as of September 2024. For more, don't miss how to apply for Supplemental Security Income and how to estimate how much in Social Security benefits you could receive .

Seniors collecting Social Security receive a raise almost every year to help their checks keep up with the rising cost of living. The government is still a few weeks away from finalizing the numbers to calculate next year's cost-of-living adjustment,

The COLA has been up and down over the last few years as it was 3.2% in 2023, 8.7% in 2022, 5.9% in 2021 and 1.3% in 2020. The Social Security Administration is expected to announce the official COLA for 2025 in mid-October.

The inflation data for August gives us a pretty good idea about the likely magnitude of Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2025. This automatic indexing of benefits to keep up with rising prices — always a wonderful feature of our Social Security program — has been particularly valuable in light of the recent bout of inflation.

Following the July inflation report, the nonpartisan senior advocacy group The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) was forecasting a 2.57% COLA for 2025 (which would round up to 2.6%). Likewise, independent Social Security and Medicare policy analyst Mary Johnson, who recently retired from TSCL, had estimated a 2.6% COLA for next year.

The purpose of COLAs is to help Social Security beneficiaries maintain their buying power in the face of inflation. Over time, living costs tend to rise naturally. Keeping Social Security payments stagnant would likely force those who rely on them into poverty through the years.

Social Security recipients received a 3.2% adjustment. The average retired worker benefit lands at roughly $1,900 per month, so that amounts to a raise of just over $60 p