Social Security Income Changes

In January, the 68 million Americans who receive social security payments will notice a change in the amount they receive each month. Their payment will go up by 2.5% in 2025, less than the increase in recent years. This annual change is called a cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA. Social security payments are tied to the inflation rate from July through September of the previous year. Once the inflation rate is announced, the Social Security Administration announces the increase (or sometimes decrease) in payments. In 2023, when inflation in the U.S. went through the roof, the COLA rose a record 8.7% — “the highest COLA since 1981,” says Megan Forristall, a public affairs specialist with the Social Security Administration. The adjustment dropped to 3.2% for 2024. And this year, with pandemic era shortages resolved, inflation is back under control, and the COLA rate is even lower, at 2.5%. Read more at ssa.gov/news/cola/

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Originally published in the Winter/Spring 2025 print issue