Social Security Announces Most Important Date of the Year for Retirees – All Set for New Increase

Social Security Announces Most Important Date of the year for the retirees who rely entirely on authorities for their living expenses. The SSA benefits are the most essential payments, and they are expected to be delivered to eligible residents of the United States.

The department increases monthly payments, one of the significant adjustments every year. As we know, the inflation rate is rising in the country. The department created cost-of-living adjustments to help retirees and other beneficiaries maintain their purchase power.

Social Security Announces Most Important Date

Over 70 million Americans benefit from the social security payments, which are distributed under the governance of SSA. They have helped people who belong to low-income societies, disabled people, veterans, seniors, and retired workers. Currently, beneficiaries are interested in the COLA Increase 2025, which will be released.

The Social Security Announces the most important date for finalizing and releasing the COLA increase for the upcoming year, October 10, 2024. Citizens can stay connected with the official website till the date to know instructions and additional related to the cost-of-living adjustments.

Social Security Announces COLA Increase

Authority	SSA
Name of Program	Cost-of-Living Adjustment
Country	USA
Announcement Date	October 10, 2024
Increase Rate	Estimated 2.5%
Beneficiaries	Retirees, disabled individuals, survivors
Category	Government Aid
Official Website	https://www.ssa.gov/

Estimation of Increase

Several organizations track inflation and CPI-W data so they can accurately predict as early as what the 2025 COLA will be. Among them is the Senior Citizens League, or TSCL. After TSCL’s estimate in early August of 2.57%, the organization made its latest projection last September 11 at 2.5%.

This estimate will mark the smallest percent increase since 2021, when the COLA was pegged at 1.3% if the final COLA figure matches it. And it will be less than the 50-year average of 3.9%, symbolling that inflation will be slower in 2025 than in years past.

How to Check 2025 COLA Increase

Here are some steps to help you find updates and information on when the SSA will release details about cost-of-living adjustments (COLA):

• Visit the department’s official website https://ssa.gov/ on your device.
• Scroll down to the Latest Notification or Latest News section and click on it.
• You will get the press release about the COLA Increase for the upcoming year.
• In Social Security’s Communication Corner, you can get additional important information for retirees.
• Check the details you wanted about the increase and also download it.

COLA Affects Annual Social Security Checks

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates the cost-of-living adjustment formula for its COLA based on the CPI-W.
• CPI-W is calculated monthly and includes all expenses for the urban household, including food, groceries, and essential bills.
• The BLS calculates COLA for the next year by comparing average data for July, August, and September for CPI-W with the previous year.
• If, for example, the CPI-W rises from 200 to 210, the COLA leaps by 5%. Social Security benefits do not fall as the CPI-W falls; benefits rise or remain unchanged.
• The SSA Department will announce the official COLA increase on October 10, 2024.

Is CPI-W Ideal for COLA Calculation?

• Social security benefits have lost 20% of purchasing power since 2010.
• A dollar of benefits only buys $0.80 in today’s terms.
• CPI-W does not reflect significant expenses for retirees, such as healthcare.
• TSCL prefers R-CPI-E, which it says better measures inflation for retirees.
• No measurement of inflation, however, is perfect, and according to critics, the best available measure is R-CPI-E.
• For now, retirees must live with the model using CPI-W for their COLA calculations.
• The model has been used for over 50 years despite criticism and lawsuits over the measure.

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