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A “Silver Lining” on the horizon for Social Security Beneficiaries? - Yahoo! Finance
Lord knows, good news about Social Security is always welcome! Because we so often hear about dark financial clouds hovering over the nation’s most important senior benefit program, positive information is always welcome. And this is the time of the year that many of us start looking for data about next year’s annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) announcement; that’s because next year’s COLA is determined by average inflation measured during the 3rd quarter (July – September) of the current year, and COLA defines how much of an increase we can expect in our Social Security benefit.
Historically, many seniors end up disappointed in their annual SS COLA increase because it usually pales in comparison to actual living costs many of us are experiencing. For example, increases in medical costs in recent years have substantially outpaced our SS COLA benefit increases, which means seniors usually actually lose buying power every year. That’s because SS increases from COLA are largely eaten up by increases in Medicare premiums (which are usually deducted from Social Security payments). But, according to some forecasts for 2027, that is about to change. With annual COLA now projected to be somewhere in the 3.8% to 4.7% (depending on who’s forecasting) and predictions for the Medicare Part B premium increase now pegged at a modest $6.60 (an increase of about 3.25%), most seniors can expect to keep more of their Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment increase than in past years Read all about this unusual phenomenon in this article by Sean Williams posted at Yahoo! Finance.