Social Security: Here’s How To Find Out Early How Much Your COLA Increase Is

Retirees who live on a fixed budget might be having trouble making ends meet due to inflation. The good news is that Social Security benefits are set to rise based on the next cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2024, which will be announced on October 12, 2023. If you want to figure out how much your Social Security checks will be after the COLA increase without having to wait until then, consider using the 3.2% forecast from The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). Based on the current forecast from the TSCL, the average Social Security benefit for retirees will jump from $1,790 to $1,847.30. While this increase isn’t as much as the 8.7% jump last year due to slowing inflation, it’s still more than the 2.6% average over the past 20 years, as TSCL points out. In addition to estimating your Social Security benefits early based on TSCL predictions, you can sign up for a free “my Social Security” account through the Social Security Administration. With a “my Social Security” account, you can estimate future benefits if you’re not currently collecting Social Security, and those who do receive benefits can likely see COLA adjustments there sooner than they would if waiting for a notice in the mail. In years past, the agency sent out notices in the mail in December leading up to the new year’s COLA increase, while also making these announcements available to most online account holders. If that trend continues, those with online accounts can likely access their specific COLA increase notices in December, before getting a mail notice. To see this notice, go to the “Message Center” within your account. You can also go to your “Message Center Preferences” within your online Social Security account to decide whether to receive notifications via email or text message, the agency explains. In other words, if you want a clear way to see your new Social Security benefit after the COLA increase, you can probably do so in December online. Or, you could try to calculate your own benefits, such as by using the TSCL estimate or waiting for the actual announcement from the Social Security Administration on October 12.