Overview
- The Social Security Administration announced Wednesday a 3.6% cost‑of‑living adjustment for 2027 that will raise average monthly retirement benefits by about $75 and apply to roughly 72–76 million Social Security recipients plus about 7.3 million SSI recipients.
- SSI recipients will see the higher payment on December 31, 2026, while Social Security benefits payable in January 2027 will reflect the COLA and personalized notices will appear online in late November with mailed notices in December.
- The COLA is calculated from the change in the CPI‑W between the third quarter of 2025 and the third quarter of 2026, which means the percentage formula gives larger dollar increases to people who already receive bigger checks.
- Advocates and analysts warn the headline increase may be largely eaten by deductions and higher costs because Medicare Part B premiums and prescription and local expenses are typically withheld from the same checks.
- Longer‑term financing remains unresolved as the June 2026 trustees’ reports project trust‑fund shortfalls in the early 2030s and lawmakers continue to debate contested options such as changing the COLA formula or raising payroll tax revenue.