Overview
- The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget outlines a plan to limit yearly cost‑of‑living adjustments for beneficiaries with the highest payments.
- Modeling ties the cap to the COLA received by a full‑retirement‑age beneficiary at the 75th percentile, with an example $900 cap and age‑based adjustments that lower caps for earlier claimers.
- CRFB estimates the approach would save roughly $115 billion over a decade and shrink the program’s solvency gap by about 10%.
- Official projections still show the main trust fund nearing depletion around 2033–2034, at which point incoming revenue would cover about 77% of scheduled benefits without new legislation.
- Social Security benefits are set to rise 2.8% in 2026, yet analysts note retirees’ costs for items such as healthcare, housing and Medicare premiums often grow faster; other remedies under discussion include raising the earnings cap, increasing payroll taxes or creating automatic adjustment mechanisms.