When to expect the Social Security COLA announcement: second week of October 2024

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Many senior citizens rely on Social Security benefits to accommodate their monthly needs.

Inflation rises slowly over time and it also has a cooling off period. While adjustments to these benefits are annually based on the COLA (cost of living adjustment) figure, imagine if there were never any adjustments. For those who only rely on Social Security, many welcome any increase.

While housing costs have risen, gas at the pump has come down by 10%. Even though groceries seem like they're at a standstill with costs not rising, they're not coming down fast enough. The fact they have leveled off brings some comfort. It was a dramatic adjustment in 2022 and 2023 to see prices rise for nearly everything you purchased.

So far, the estimated increase of SSN benefits is 2.5% which is lower than the previous year of 3.2%. That information is based on July and August data, so there's still time for it to increase, but it likely won't be significantly higher.

September's data could lift that percentage if there's a change in the inflation data. Remember, too, that COLA decreases when inflation has lowered. With lowered inflation, you can buy a little more even though that's hard to believe.

Despite any disappointment with the announced increase in October, there is still more buying power.

COLAs in recent years: 5.9% in 2022, 8.7% in 2023, and 3.2% in 2024. Prior to that, COLAs had not exceeded 3% since 2012. (Source.) (Emphasis added.)

The official 2025 COLA can't be determined until the September Consumer Price Index data is available. According to Yahoo! Finance information, it will be known by October 10.

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