August 23, 2022
By Tirupati Gumpula
Thousands of elders rely on Social Security as their only income. this may be especially true as Inflation is ruining seniors' finances.
Each year, Social Security makes improvements that might benefit seniors.
So, As usual the October adjustment might be critical to seniors' economic stability in 2023.
COLAs assist seniors preserve their buying power in the face of inflation.
In response to 2021 inflation, Social Security payouts jumped 5.9% this year.
Living costs have risen even more in 2022, thus next year's COLA will likely be larger.
Why does the 2023 COLA won't be known until October?
This COLA is derived on the 3rd quarter of the CPI-W data (CPI-W).
CPI-W measures year-over-year variations in essential products and services.
Since COLAs help seniors keep up with inflation, it makes sense to tie them to an inflation index.
CPI-W statistics from the third quarter will be used to determine next year's COLA.
Since the data won't be available until October, seniors won't know their 2023 hike until then.
If seniors get a big rise in 2023, it will only help them keep up with inflation.