By Dallas Gagnon
masslive.com
(TNS)
With 2026 in full swing, Social Security recipients are ringing in the new year with a monthly payment surpassing $2,000 for the first time after a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment.
But even two months into the year, many seniors and advocacy groups are already looking ahead.
The Senior Citizens League, a leading bipartisan senior advocacy group, predicts the 2027 COLA will be roughly 2.5%, signaling a smaller increase from this year’s.
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Why early COLA predictions matter
The actual increase is determined by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from July to September of the current year, according to the Social Security Administration.
The CPI-W itself is determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Using the same calculation, TSCL’s 2.5% prediction pans out to roughly $50 extra a month.
COLAs are designed to help retirees keep up with inflation but annual adjustments often lag behind real-world costs for housing, health care and other essentials.
TSCL notes that while the $2,000 milestone is historic, for many, this will barely cover inflation in essentials, including rent, utilities and health care.
Many Social Security recipients live on these benefits alone as a fixed income.
This means that as the cost of living rises, beneficiaries are ultimately left at the mercy of COLA increases to help them stay afloat.
In 2026, the modest 2.8% COLA resulted in about a $56 per month increase but was largely erased by increased Medicare costs.
Medicare premiums are typically deducted automatically from Social Security checks, so many seniors never see, or see very little, of their COLA increases.
This year, Medicare Part B increased by nearly 10%—one of the largest single-year dollar increases in the program’s history, according to CNN.
Photo credit: JimVallee/iStock
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©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit masslive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
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