For payments sent out this year, more than 71 million Social Security recipients will get a 3.2 increase, marking the third straight year that an increase has taken place because of relatively high inflation. The previous year saw an 8.7 percent increase, while the year before that saw a 5.7 percent bump.
Social Security is financed by payroll taxes collected from workers and their employers. The maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security payroll taxes will be $168,600 for 2024, up from $160,200 for 2023.
The 2024 retirement benefit payments will increase by about $50 per month, the agency stated when announcing the COLA.
The COLA is calculated according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI). But there are calls for the agency to instead use a different index, the CPI-E, which measures price changes based on the spending patterns of the elderly, including items such as health care, food, and medicine costs.
The COLA increases will appear on Social Security checks that go out this month, with the date depending on a recipient’s birthday.
According to the Social Security Administration, the first group to get paid this month will get their Social Security checks on Jan. 10, applying to those who were born on the first to the 10th day of a month. The second group will get their payments on Jan. 17, applying to those born on the 11th to the 20th day of a month, and the third group will get their payments on Jan. 24, applying to those born on the 21st to the 31st day of a month.
If a retiree gets both Social Security and SSI, the payment schedule differs. Those who qualify will get their Social Security payment on the third day of each month and their SSI payment on the first day of the month, according to the agency.
People who receive spousal or children’s benefits from another person’s work history will get their payments on the same day as the spouse or parent, according to the agency.
Because of high inflation, the COLA may not be enough for some retirees, according to some analysts.
The Senior Citizens League advocacy group warned in a recent report that more than two-thirds of older Americans say their monthly budget for essential items such as medication, housing, and food is about 10 percent higher than a year ago.
“Housing, motor vehicle insurance, the cost of hospitals and care of invalids at home—these are the savings-draining black holes even when inflation is low,” Mary Johnson, policy analyst and editor with the group, said in a statement.
“Yet these are the very categories seeing the most persistent and painful inflation right now.”
