What's Happening
6 minutes ago

3 Reasons to Seriously Consider Using a Living Trust to Pass an Inheritance to Your Family

foolfool.com
9 minutes ago

These 2 AI Stocks Are Vying to Be the Next Palantir. Are Either of Them Buys?

foolfool.com
16 minutes ago

Dow Jumps Over 300 Points Following Recent Inflation Data; Investor Sentiment Improves, Fear & Greed Index Moves To 'Neutral' Zone

benzingabenzinga.com
16 minutes ago

Palo Alto Networks, Moderna And 3 Stocks To Watch Heading Into Friday

benzingabenzinga.com
17 minutes ago

TikTok Returns To Apple And Google App Stores After A Month-Long Hiatus

benzingabenzinga.com
17 minutes ago

Prediction: 2 Stocks That'll Be Worth More Than Bank of America 10-15 Years From Now

foolfool.com
19 minutes ago

US Stocks Set For A Volatile Start: Analyst Dismisses Chances Of 20%+ S&P 500 Gain For Third Year In A Row, But Says 'Investors Should Be Optimist...

benzingabenzinga.com
24 minutes ago

Should You Buy Nvidia Stock Before Feb. 26?

foolfool.com
24 minutes ago

Here's How Many Shares of Enterprise Products Partners You Should Own to Get $5,000 in Yearly Dividends

foolfool.com
24 minutes ago

Stock-Split Watch: Is Meta Platforms Next?

foolfool.com
37 minutes ago

The Ultimate Healthcare Stock to Buy With $500 Right Now

foolfool.com
44 minutes ago

Sony's Outgoing CEO Kenichiro Yoshida Calls This $4 Billion Deal The 'Most Impressive' In Company History

benzingabenzinga.com
49 minutes ago

Think American Express Is Expensive? This Chart Might Change Your Mind.

foolfool.com
54 minutes ago

Will the "Trump Put" Save Nvidia?

foolfool.com
1 hour ago

This Is the Average Social Security Benefit for Age 67

foolfool.com
1 hour ago

Will This 1 New Catalyst for Solana Be a Game Changer?

foolfool.com
1 hour ago

Is Now a Good Time to Buy the Dip in Dogecoin?

foolfool.com
1 hour ago

After Selling 30,000 EVS, Hertz Is Now Chasing Fleet Rotation To Reduce Losses

benzingabenzinga.com
1 hour ago

Why Airbnb Shares Are Trading Higher By Around 14%; Here Are 20 Stocks Moving Premarket

benzingabenzinga.com
1 hour ago

Warren Buffett's 4th-Quarter Trades Will Be Revealed Today, but Won't Show His Favorite Stock to Buy. Here's Why.

foolfool.com

This Big Social Security Change Was Just Announced, and It Will Affect Your 2025 Benefits

The Social Security Administration (SSA) made an important announcement on Oct. 10, 2024. It will affect every retiree, as well as those receiving other Social Security benefits, such as Supplemental Security Income.

Here’s what the announcement is, along with some details on exactly how it will affect you.

Two people taking a selfie with building behind them.

Image source: Getty Images.

The Social Security Administration announced this important change

The Oct. 10 Social Security announcement related to the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA.

COLAs are increases in benefits that occur most years. They are very important because prices increase over time. If retirees and other Social Security recipients just received the same benefit year after year, they’d be able to buy less and less as their income remained stable but the price of goods and services went up.

To make sure that doesn’t happen, a formula was put in place to calculate automatic benefit increases. Data from the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) is assessed each year. If third-quarter CPI-W data shows that prices rose year over year on a basket of goods and services, then retirees get a COLA based on that increase.

This year’s CPI-W data did show prices are up, so the Social Security Administration announced that those receiving benefits would be getting a raise. Specifically, seniors and others who are collecting Social Security will get a 2.5% benefits increase.

Retirees can expect to see their check amount increase beginning in January. According to the SSA, the average increase that seniors will get is around $50 monthly.

How much extra money will come in your check?

The Social Security Administration will be sending out personalized notifications alerting you to how big your benefits increase will be. These notices will go out in December. This year’s COLA notification has simplified the language from prior years, so it will be easier for seniors to understand exactly how much more money they are going to get when the COLA goes into effect.

If you have created a mySocialSecurity account online prior to Nov. 20, you will also be able to log into your account to get your COLA notification online. This can be faster and easier than waiting for your mailed notification, according to the SSA.

If you don’t want to wait, you can get a pretty close estimate of how much your benefits will increase by multiplying your current check amount by 2.5%. This isn’t the exact method by which Social Security calculates your benefits increase, but it will show you within a few dollars how much more money you can expect.

You’ll need to find out how much the Medicare premium increases are for 2025, though, if you’re like the majority of people who have these premiums automatically withdrawn from their Social Security payments. The exact premium increase hasn’t been announced yet, but most experts believe costs are going up, so this will eat into the COLA.

Retirees and others receiving Social Security should take note of this important announcement, so they can start planning and preparing for their upcoming cost-of-living adjustment and begin adjusting their budgets accordingly.

The $22,924 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook

If you’re like most Americans, you’re a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known “Social Security secrets” could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. For example: one easy trick could pay you as much as $22,924 more… each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we’re all after. Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies.

View the “Social Security secrets” »

The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Related Posts

The average retirement age in the U.S. was 62 in 2023, but that number’s been slowly ticking up over time. Rising life expectancies and rising

While the stock market is still thriving, some investors may be feeling wary about the future. Spiking inflation could cause the Federal Reserve to shift

There are plenty of ways to become a millionaire, like starting a successful business, being a professional athlete, or becoming a movie star. For most

Sadly, a lot of people go into retirement with minimal savings. But if you’re gearing up to retire this year, you’ve hopefully managed to amass