Senior US citizens and others who receive Social Security checks will soon see a 5.9% increase in their monthly payments, the biggest annual rise since 1982. But experts warn that the boost may not be enough to offset fast-rising inflation. The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, goes into effect with the December benefits, but those will be paid in January. The payment dates are determined by the recipient’s birthdate: People born on the 1st through the 10th of the month will get their COLA-adjusted checks on January 12. People born from the 11th to the 20th of the month will get their checks on January 19. Those born after the 20th of the month will get their payment on January 26.
The Social Security Administration said it is mailing notices to all recipients in December to alert them to their COLA increase. But the information can also be found online in the message center in recipients’ Social Security account. The COLA increase represents the largest in about 40 years, due to this year’s rising inflation. Social Security payments are adjusted each year to reflect the change in prices of goods like food and gasoline. But this year has proved to be a struggle given that the benefit’s 2021 cost-of-living increase was a meager 1.3%. The hope is that the more generous COLA increase that goes into effect next month could help seniors keep ahead of inflation, but experts are skeptical.
The Social Security and Medicare policy analyst at the Senior Citizens League, Mary Johnson said, “We are still going to see this tremendous problem with prices increasing faster than the COLA. Even with that 5.9% COLA, inflation through November was up 6.8% for the past 12 months, and it looks like economists are forecasting that may continue. So, retirees, anybody living on a fixed income, need to be aware that the 5.9% may look like a bigger increase than we’ve ever gotten; but once they go through their household budget, they will realize it still won’t pay for all the increasing bills”. The average beneficiary will receive an extra $93 a month and the typical monthly check will increase to $1,658 in January from the previous $1,565.