2023’s COLA (cost-of-living adjustment) is finally here, and eligible seniors will receive an 8.7 percent increase to their monthly benefits. This is the highest benefit increase in decades. Approximately 65 million Americans will receive some type of increase, but that increase will vary. What they receive will depend on their current benefit. CNBC’s Lorie Konish looks at how the average benefit is impacted and how we can calculate your new COLA.
Your New COLA
Calculating a COLA increase can be relatively simple. The most important variable in the equation is your standard monthly benefit amount:
(My Social Security Benefit X 0.087) + (My Social Security Benefit) = My COLA Adjusted Benefit
On average, beneficiaries are earning an estimated $140 more a month, or a total benefit of $1700 a month. Depending on the size of your monthly benefit, your new COLA may be larger or smaller than other beneficiaries.
American Disability benefits will increase by $119 on average to a new monthly total of over $1300 a month.
Seniors can increase their standard monthly benefit in a variety of ways. The easiest way is to defer benefits until full retirement age or older. The longer we wait to file the more we can earn. Alternatively, if we can increase our earnings, which the Social Security Administration uses to calculate our benefits, we can potentially boost our Social Security.
For more retirement tips and tricks, follow the Council for Retirement Security.
