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Concern over potential Social Security benefit cuts
LiveNOW’s Andy Mac is speaking with Zach Cohen, Bloomberg Government's senior budget reporter, as the clock continues to tick for American workers and seniors who are worried about cuts to their Social Security.
Social Security recipients, including retirees and those on disability, now know how much larger their monthly payments from the federal government will be. On Wednesday, the Social Security Administration (SSA) revealed its 2027 cost of living adjustment (COLA) figure, as well as estimated average monthly distributions.
Big picture view:
The agency stated that benefits would increase 3.6% in the coming year, a sharp increase from the 2.8% rise that went into effect going into this year.
By the numbers:
Social Security said payments will increase by about $75 per month starting in January 2027. Going into 2026, the SSA estimated the average monthly Social Security benefit would be $2,071.
Nearly 72 million people receive Social Security benefits, which can include Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI), and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments. All of their payments will go up next year, according to SSA numbers.
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What's next:
The agency expects to start mailing notifications to beneficiaries, alerting them to the change and the new amount they will begin receiving, in December of this year. COLA notices are also posted online for people who have a My Social Security account.
In this photo illustration, a Social Security card sits alongside checks from the U.S. Treasury on October 14, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo illustration by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Dig deeper:
The SSA made the announcement Wednesday after the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its Consumer Price Index data for September, which contained the final figure that administrators needed to lock in the size of the COLA.
The annual adjustment is based on a year-to-year comparison of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the months of July, August, and September. The CPI-W for July was 3.4%, while August’s increase was 3.5%, BLS numbers showed.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from the Social Security Administration and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This story was reported from Orlando.