Social Security COLA 2023 release news summary | 14 October 2022
2023 Social Security COLA live: latest news
COLA 2023 Headlines: Friday, 14 October 2022
- Social Security Adminstration announces historic increase of 8.7 percent.
- How much will benefits increase by next year?
- How to calculate your new Social Security benefit amount, given 2023 COLA.
- COLA 2023 will be applied beginning early next year.
- Some economists voice an unpopular belief that a large COLA increase could have negative consequences.
- Social Security benefits: Work requirements and eligibility.
- A look into the three major benefit programs run by the Social Security Administration.
- Social Security and Income: when do benefits get taxed?
What are Social Security retirement benefits?
More than 52 million of the 70 million who claim Social Security, do so through their retirement benefits. For nearly every worker in the United States, a proportion of their lifetime wages will have been contributed to the Social Security pay pot to ensure that they have a source of income in retirement.
When you reach retirement age, or at least when you start claiming retirement benefits, the SSA will calculate your entitlement from your 35 highest-earning years. The point at which you can claim your maximum payment is known as full entitlement age and it varies between 66 and 67 years old, depending on your year of birth.
2023 COLA for the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS)
More than 2.6 million people received civil service annuity payments, both employees and survivors, in 2018 according to government data. Over two thirds of them received benefits earned under CSRS and will see their monthly payments jump by 8.7 percent when the first are issued for January 2023.
Meanwhile the remaining third will get the 2023 COLA for FERS, which will be 7.7 percent. Those on FERS are more recent government employees who began having their retirement covered under the new program since 1 January 1987.
The slightly smaller increase to their annuity payments is due to how FERS was established when Congress created the pension scheme in 1986. The retirement plan provides benefits from three different sources: a Basic Benefit Plan, Social Security and the Thrift Savings Plan.
How to get Social Security help?
The best way for people with access to the internet to get help from Social Security is online at ssa.gov.
For those unable to use the website, an 800 Number is available (1-800-772-1213) or call your local Social Security office for help.
For quicker access to a representative at the National 800 Number, try calling early in the day (between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. local time) or later in the afternoon (between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. local time).
Some seniors' drawbacks discussed
"The higher-than-expected COLA costs could have long term implications for Social Security solvency, and could potentially move the insolvency date, currently around 2034, forward."
"A recession would put additional strain on program solvency by reducing the payroll tax revenues received by the Trust Funds."
COLA announcement
If you like to hear your communications straight from the financial benefits horse's mouth, then here you go...
Official SS communications
“Medicare premiums are going down and Social Security benefits are going up in 2023, which will give seniors more peace of mind and breathing room.
"This year’s substantial Social Security cost-of-living adjustment is the first time in over a decade that Medicare premiums are not rising and shows that we can provide more support to older Americans who count on the benefits they have earned.”
White House highlights SS payments
Earlier this morning the official White House twitter account shared information over the new payments being made to Americans.
'Seniors are about to see their Social Security checks go up on average by $140 every month," it wrote.
'And, for the first time in a decade, Medicare costs are going down as Social Security benefits are going up.'
Mixed bag of COLA across federal retirees
For the second year in a row, federal retirees will see the largest annual increase in benefits payments in decades, as the Social Security Administration announced Thursday that the annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for 2023 will be 8.7%. Not all federal retirees will get the full 8.7%, however, prompting renewed calls for parity between the federal government’s retirement systems.
Social Security cost-of-living increases are calculated based on the annual change in the third quarter consumer price index for workers. The Civil Service Retirement System also calculates enrollees’ annual annuity increases on that basis, meaning retirees enrolled in CSRS will see an 8.7% increase to their annuity payments in 2023, the largest COLA since 1981.
Erich Wagner looks at the increase for Gov ex.
How will I know that I have to pay social security?
It's a question that we're hearing a lot.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) will send a benefit statement each year in January to beneficiaries called Form SSA-1099. This form shows the total amount of benefits you received from Social Security in the previous year. With it, you will be able to “complete your federal income tax return to find out if your benefits are subject to tax.”
Additionally, the SSA allows beneficiaries to report their incomes quarterly to avoid a surprise at the end of the year. This may be beneficial to those on a fixed income, as coming up with additional funds can be quite difficult.
We bring you more on when social security becomes taxable and other useful info.
Medicare Part B premiums jumped 15 percent in 2022 but for the first time in a decade the price next year will reduce. Here’s a look at 2023 Part B costs.
The Social Security Administration announces annually its cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to benefits so that they keep pace with inflation. With prices rising at a clip not seen in four decades many beneficiaries will be anxious to see what the boost to their monthly checks will be in 2023.
While the agency mails out letters throughout the month of December, but they request not to contact them until January, the first month when beneficiaries will see payments with the higher amount, as the notice could take time to reach you.
However, you may not need to wait for the mail to know how much your payments will increase based on the 2023 COLA. Most beneficiaries can access the notice online.
Only three COLAs have been bigger than 2023's
Since it was first implemented in 1975, the Social Security Administrations’s cost-of-living adjustment has only been larger than in 2023 on three occasions, all over 40 years ago. In 1979, it was 9.9 percent; in 1980, a record 14.3; and in 1981, it was 11.2.
You can take a look at each year’s COLA on the SSA website.
The Social Security Administration announced its fourth largest COLA increase since they began in 1975 increasing the average amount that a beneficiary receives each month by over $140. While inflation is still taking a bite out of household finances, Medicare premiums in general are set to decrease next year.
While the vast majority of Medicare beneficiaries do not have to pay any premiums for Part A coverage, one of four parts of the government subsidized healthcare program, those that are required to pay will see a slight increase in 2023 to buy into this portion of Medicare. Deductibles and coinsurance amounts will also rise somewhat next year. Here’s a rundown the costs you can expect.
The 8.7% COLA increase in 2023 will affect more than just Social Security benefits. Retired government employees will get a boost too,but not all the same.
2023 COLA based on CPI-W beats inflation for index based on elederly spending habits
There has been a push to change the way that the annual automatic increase, if any, is calculated through the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). The Social Security Administration currently uses the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).
This broad basket of goods and services that consumers spend their money on is said not to reflect properly what seniors are spending their money on and causing retirees to lose purchasing power.
There have been calls for the Consumer Price Index for Americans 62 years of age and older (CPI-E) to be used instead. While the data hasn't been published yet, the 8.7 percent COLA announced Tuesday beat the August-to-August CPI-E by a full percentage point according to Jaime Hopkins from the Carson Group.
The Social Security Administration announced another record cost-of-living adjustment for beneficiaries whichwill also affect VA payments in 2023.
The US Social Security Adminstration announced the largest cost-of-living adjustment in over four decades. Clocking in at 8.7 percent, this historic COLA will shift up the maximum benefit for Social Security, which depends on the age at which a person retires, by a substantive margin.
Despite record 8.7% COLA for 2023, "Still more work to do to help seniors"
The Social Security Administration announced a historic 8.7 percent COLA increase for benefits in 2023. The extra money each month will help recipients cope with inflation to a degree when it arrives with January's payments.
However, there are concerns that more needs to be done especially in the case of seniors to make the COLA more responsive to the expenses they face that aren't used in the current calculation.
The current COLA uses inflation figures from the CPI-W, a broad basket of consumer goods and services. There are calls to use the CPI-E which targets goods and services that “would more accurately measure spending patterns of seniors.”
The Senior Citizens League reported recently that since the early 2000s, those on Social Security have lost forty percent of their purchasing power.
The cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) reflects the year-on-year price changes recorded in the United States. To ensure that benefits are raised in line with inflation the Social Security Administration must introduce a COLA increase every year, or recipients will be poorer in real terms.
But whatrole do medical expenses playin the calculation?
Some people will need to pay federal income tax on Social Security benefits, depending on the total income that they receivefrom a private retirement account or, in the case of surviving beneficiaries, possible employment.
The SSA announces an annual adjustment to benefits to keep pace with inflation. However, the COLA in 2023 could cause more recipients to have a tax burden.
Without SSA COLA beneficiaries would lose purchasing power
Prices continually rise over time but Social Security benefits didn't always adjust to the increased cost of living recipients faced on a daily basis. Prior to 1975 it took an Act of Congress to give benefits a boost.
Since then monthly checks paid out by the Social Security Administration have been adjusted automatically each year to reflect general inflation being experienced by consumers for goods and services.
Social Security Administration announces historic 8.7% COLA 2023 increase
The Social Security Administration has announced a nearly 9% cost-of-living adjustment, the biggest increase since 1981, affecting the benefits received by over 70m Americans.
Welcome to AS USA 2023 COLA increase updates
Hello and welcome to AS USA's live blog on the 2023 Social Security COLA increase for Friday, 14 October.
The Social Security Adminstration announced the 2023 Cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for social security benefits, for programs like Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance. Other government pension and benefits programs will also be affected by the 8.7% increase.
The COLA offered for next year is historic in size after inflation has plagued markets for basic commodities consumed by most households, including food, shelter, utilities, and gasoline.