Lately, there’s lots of chatter about the COLA for next year being the biggest since 1980 when it was 14.3 or 1981 when we received 11.2. Anything in the double digits would be huge for us. It would be a first for me. My VA disability started, in 1991 and my SSDI didn’t start until 1998 I think.
Since 1982, there hasn’t been a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) above 10%. The last time it happened was, in 1982 when the COLA increased by 11.2%.
What is scary is several sources say Americans will stop receiving their full Social Security benefits in 2035 if lawmakers don’t act.
Opinions on what the 2023 COLA are varied:
Yahoo/Finance The Wednesday Consumer Price Index report showed that June’s inflation surged by 9.1%. According to the Senior Citizens League, the COLA (cost-of-living adjustment) 2023 will be approximately 10.5%. This is great news for seniors struggling to keep up with the rising living costs.
Fool.com According to Mary Johnson, a Social Security policy analyst at The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), a nonpartisan senior advocacy group, the program’s COLA could be as high as 11.4% in 2023 if inflation continues to surge in the third quarter.
Here is a link to Google Search for COLA 2023 so you can keep track of the news on the 2023 COLA as we get closer to its announcement in October 2023.
A bit of background from the SSA.gov site
History of Automatic Cost-Of-Living Adjustments (COLA)
The COLA is designed to keep your Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits from losing value to inflation. It’s based on the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the third quarter of the last year, and a COLA was determined for the current year's third quarter. If there’s no increase, there can be no COLA.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Department of Labor determines the CPI-W. By law, it is the official measure the Social Security Administration uses to calculate COLAs.
1972, Congress enacted Social Security Amendments, and automatic annual COLAs began in 1975. Before that, benefits were increased only when Congress enacted special legislation.
Beginning in 1975, Social Security started automatic annual cost-of-living allowances. The change was enacted by legislation that ties COLAs to the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) increase.
The change means that inflation no longer drains value from Social Security benefits.
The 1975-82 COLAs were effective with Social Security benefits payable for June (received by beneficiaries in July) each year. After 1982, COLAs have been effective with benefits payable for December (received by beneficiaries in January).
Automatic Cost-Of-Living Adjustments received since 1975
- July 1975 — 8.0%
- July 1976 — 6.4%
- July 1977 — 5.9%
- July 1978 — 6.5%
- July 1979 — 9.9%
- July 1980 — 14.3%
- July 1981 — 11.2%
- July 1982 — 7.4%
- January 1984 — 3.5%
- January 1985 — 3.5%
- January 1986 — 3.1%
- January 1987 — 1.3%
- January 1988 — 4.2%
- January 1989 — 4.0%
- January 1990 — 4.7%
- January 1991 — 5.4%
- January 1992 — 3.7%
- January 1993 — 3.0%
- January 1994 — 2.6%
- January 1995 — 2.8%
- January 1996 — 2.6%
- January 1997 — 2.9%
- January 1998 — 2.1%
- January 1999 — 1.3%
- January 2000 — 2.5% (1)
- January 2001 — 3.5%
- January 2002 — 2.6%
- January 2003 — 1.4%
- January 2004 — 2.1%
- January 2005 — 2.7%
- January 2006 — 4.1%
- January 2007 — 3.3%
- January 2008 — 2.3%
- January 2009 — 5.8%
- January 2010 — 0.0%
- January 2011 — 0.0%
- January 2012 — 3.6%
- January 2013 — 1.7%
- January 2014 — 1.5%
- January 2015 — 1.7%
- January 2016 — 0.0%
- January 2017 — 0.3%
- January 2018 — 2.0%
- January 2019 — 2.8%
- January 2020 — 1.6%
- January 2021 — 1.3%
- January 2022 — 5.9%
(1) The COLA for December 1999 was originally determined as 2.4 percent based on CPIs published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to Public Law 106-554, this COLA is now 2.5 percent.