The notification by the Social Security Administration (SSA) regarding the COLA is scheduled to take place on October 15, 2025. In light of this, seniors might want to investigate the extent to which their retirement benefits will increase in the year 2026. Because of this, it is essential to mark this date in your calendar in order to find out how much money the government will provide you after the Cost-of-Living Adjustment adjustment.
It is important to keep in mind that the announcement regarding the COLA hike will be made on October 15th, 2025. You will, however, be required to wait for this annual boost until you receive a payment with this boost in January 2026 if you are presently receiving retirement benefits. At that time, you will be eligible for this boost. However, it will not be feasible to take advantage of the increased advantages until January, even though it is possible to understand how much the benefits will increase.
Why does the Social Security Administration unveil the COLA on October 15, 2025?
The Administration uses the CPI-W for the months of July, August, and September from both this year and the year before. This information is provided for your convenience. When the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the Consumer Price Index for the month of September, it will be on October 15, 2025.
As a result, Social Security will not be able to compute the cost-of-living adjustment for the year 2026 until that time. The good news is that the COLA appears to be beneficial for retirees because it is highly probable that it helps retirees in general. This is the reason why the COLA appears to be positive.
Contrarily, it is possible that this increase will not be as substantial as many retirees had hoped it would be. It is important to keep in mind that inflation can lower your purchasing power. A significant number of workers in the United States do not take inflation into consideration, which is one of the reasons why they are able to purchase less products after receiving retirement benefits for a decade or two when they reach retirement age.
With that being said, it is self-evident that it is preferable to be given an increase rather than a decrease. Despite the fact that COLAs have never resulted in a cut for retirees, it is feasible that this could happen in the future. Therefore, it is preferable to acquire some additional funds rather than a smaller amount of money. If you check the amount for just one month, the bump appears to be lower than if you check it for an entire year.
Which of the most recent COLA projections for 2026 is it?
The most recent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) forecast for Social Security in 2026 is to increase to 2.6%, as stated by the Senior Citizens League. In point of fact, this increase is 0.1% larger than the forecast that was produced when the previous month was being considered.
Because of this, it has been steadily climbing ever since the initial forecast was issued in January of 2026. In point of fact, the forecast that was completed on January 15, 2025 was only 2.1%. This indicates that the rate of inflation has been steadily climbing, which has an impact on COLA.
Nevertheless, it has done so in a very modest manner, and it appears to be a COLA rise so far. This is quite comparable to the COLA increase that was implemented in 2025, which was only 2.5%. This is how it has developed throughout time:
- January 15: 2.1%
- February 12: 2.3%
- March 12: 2.2%
- April 10: 2.3%
- May 13: 2.4%
- June 11: 2.5%
- July 15: 2.6%
For your information, the new cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) rise that will take effect in 2026 will be applied to the benefits that retirees receive in January of that year. This raise will also be applied to you if you are receiving Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income.
