Social Security’s Cost-of-Living Increase Likely to be Largest in Four Decades

From Kirk Gillenwaters, president Kentucky Alliance for Retired Americans

Retirees will learn the amount of the Social Security COLA increase for 2023 on October 13, and the current estimate, according to The New York Times, is that it will be 8.7%. That would make it the largest in four decades.

The 2023 COLA will provide a considerable boost to all of the 70 million Americans who rely on their earned Social Security benefits.

“The expected COLA will be an enormous help but it is not enough. Congress could increase benefits even further by passing H.R. 5723,‘Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust,’ which was introduced by Rep. John Larson (CT), or the Social Security Expansion Act, S. 4365, introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT). Both of these bills make the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share,” said Joseph Peters, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer of the Alliance. “By removing the artificial earnings cap that is currently $147,000 per year, we could strengthen the Social Security Trust Fund while providing all retirees with increased benefits.”

That cap is expected to increase to $155,100 for 2023, according to an annual report released by the Social Security Board of Trustees on June 2.

Social Security expansion bills supported by the Alliance also require COLAs to be based on the CPI-E, the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly. The CPI-E reflects health care and housing costs, items that seniors actually spend their money on – a change that would result in fairer COLAs every year, not just every few decades.